Four New Clans Four New Secrets- REWRITTEN
by minimint12
Summary: Okay guys... This is my rewritten story. I am going to rewrite this... again...soon... and give it a new name, "Starshine". So... I hope you like this, but its not as different as the other one. Rated T just in case.
1. Prolouge

Prologue:

Rainfur awoke quite suddenly with a jerk. The dream had been so confusing, so cold. So real. There was no doubt about it; the dream had been from StarClan.

Her sleek black fur bristled with fear as she rose to her paws and padded across the clearing over to Wetstar's den, underneath Highrock. Rainfur felt the ground sink under her paws, leaving deep imprints behind in the mud.

Wetstar was snoring lightly. "Wetstar?" Rainfur meowed quietly. She waited impatiently for a reply as she unsheathed her claws and dug them into the rain-softened ground. Rainfur self consciously tugged at a clump of unused moss buried into the ground as she waited.

The rain had slowed that night, it started to just pitter-patter lightly. The scent of the rain calmed Rainfur slightly. The rain soaked through her thin pelt cooling her fear of the dream.

"Come in, Rainfur." Wetstar meowed, sounding a little startled by Rainfur's sudden presence. She padded into his den and hesitated.

"I think I have a prophecy for you Wetstar..." Westar's ears pricked up slowly. He motioned for her to sit but Rainfur was trying too hard to remember what he had said in the dream.

"Go on," he meowed soothingly. She was so frightened that Rainfur couldn't speak for a minute. Avoiding his icy gaze she blurted out, with her eyes closed, "'_When the moon outshines the sun, the forest will fall and the path of stars will vanish in the smoke until the fire is quenched.' _It's hard to explain Wetstar… You were in it." She meowed slowly, picking her words carefully. "You said that danger is coming to the Clans! " Wetstar yawned then stood up. He paced the room a few times, puzzled by the prophecy. Then he sat again and wrapped his tail around himself and rested it on his paws. "What can it mean?" he meowed.

"I don't know Wetstar." Rainfur admitted.

"It could be..." Wetstar started slowly. "Just maybe..." Then he murmured something Rainfur couldn't make out.

Wetstar let his ears lay down, relaxed, on his head. "Maybe I'll have a dream about it," he meowed calmly. "If not, then I can go to Moonstone and we can figure it out. But for now, you should get some sleep, Rainfur."

Rainfur dipped her head respectfully then swiftly ran back to the medicine cat's den and heard Rockkit and Flamekit whispering to each other excitedly.

"I can't wait 'til I become an apprentice!" She heard Flamekit mewl.

"I'll become one first, then I'll tell you about it," Rockkit teased.

Rockkit was about five moons and Flamekit was four. They would soon become apprentices.

Rainfur settled in, and then quickly fell asleep, the dream still haunting her mind.

"Rockkit, you have reached the age of six moons and it is time for you to become an apprentice. From this day on, until he has earned his warrior name, this apprentice will be called Rockpaw. Your mentor will be Ashpelt. I hope Ashpelt will pass on all he knows on to you." Ashpelt scrambled forward next to Wetstar.

"Ashpelt," Icestar began again. "You are ready to take on an apprentice. You have received excellent training from Flowerblaze and have shown yourself to be smart and brave. You will be the mentor of Rockpaw and I expect you to pass on all you know to Rockpaw." Ashpelt dipped his head in agreement. Then he touched noses with Rockpaw. Rainfur saw Rockpaw's eyes shine brightly as the leader of NightClan brushed his tail against his muzzle. Rockpaw thankfully licked Wetstar on his shoulder in return and dipped his head again toward Ashpelt. Flamekit sat in the nursery, with Dawnflower watching and waiting for Rockpaw to fully become an apprentice. There was only one more thing that had to be said...

"ROCKPAW! ROCKPAW! ROCKPAW!"


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1:

"Flamekit!" Flamekit's sleep was interrupted when Sunpaw nudged her. "Time to get up, Flamekit," she meowed, nudging her again. "Okay, Sunpaw… I'm getting up!" Flamekit growled at her. Flamekit scrambled to her paws as Sunpaw left the den. She wondered what Rockpaw and she would be going to do together on this day.

Flamekit sat up and washed herself slowly. As she left the den, Flamekit saw that the whole Clan was up.

Flamekit watched with wonder as Rockpaw padded over to to meet her. "Hi, Flamekit, are you ready to meet everyone? You should learn a few of their names." he purred. "Okay Rockpaw, let's go." Flamekit meowed. "Is that cat over there Icestar?"

"Yes," Rockpaw nodded. "He came to visit you before you opened your eyes. Wait," Rockpaw paused. "Speaking of that, this is your second day out of the nursery?"

"Yeah, mom didn't let me leave until I was five moons...She's crazy sometimes, but let's go!"

Rockpaw was a brown tortoiseshell tom with blue eyes. He was Flamekit's brother but was a moon older. When he was standing under the moon his pelt looked a golden brown in the light.

"I'll introduce you to the warriors first since they're already up so we don't have to wake up anyone." he meowed. "That is Sandclaw," Rockpaw flicked his tail at a ginger she-cat with dark amber eyes. _She is leaving camp to get prey,_ Flamekit guessed as she sped through the bramble covered tunnel.

"And this is Saturn, you might remember him," Rockpaw continued as he flicked his tail to a jet black tom with two pink eyes and a smudge of gold under one of his eyes. He nodded and continued to walk over to the nursery.

"That is Stormtail and this is Leafstorm." Rockpaw nodded his head toward two cats sharing tongues with each other. Flamekit could tell which one was Leafstorm and which one was Stormtail. Stormtail was a large white tom with a dark brown and black tail. Leafstorm was a white she-cat with leafy green eyes. "Hello, Flamekit, out of the nursery already? I remember when you were just learning how to play-fight with Rockpaw here," she meowed calmly to Flamekit.

She suddenly had a dim memory of her; she had come in to keep an eye on the two kits. Dawnflower had gone somewhere and Leafstorm had volunteered to look after them. Flamekit remembered she played hide and seek and taught us how to play-fight a little.

_I hope she is my mentor,_ Flamekit thought suddenly.

"This is Ashpelt, my mentor," he pointed at a black tabby tom with dark green eyes. Ashpelt yawned as he stretched his gray paws. Rockpaw and Flamekit padded over to the warrior's den. "And this is Snowclaw and Webnose." He flicked his tail over to two cats sitting next to each other. Flamekit barely knew Snowclaw. He was a white tom with gray paws which glowed in the moonlight. Webnose was a golden tom with amber eyes and paws.

She looked at his muzzle, which had web-like marking on the sides. Snowclaw and he were too deep in conversation to notice us. "Sorry to interrupt, you two, but Rockpaw and I have to learn to stalk." Ashpelt meowed as Rockpaw's eyes gleamed with embarrassment. "Sorry Flamekit," he mewed. "Gotta go!" Flamekit watched as Ashpelt and Rockpaw dashed into the forest.

At first, Flamekit wondered what she should do. She thought about seeing her mother but then thought better of it.

Flamekit went over to the nursery to see if Saturn was there telling his stories. When we were younger, Rockpaw and Flamekit always listened to Saturn's stories of his life. They were interesting, but they could tell that some of it was fake.

As Flamekit passed the nursery, she saw Saturn's tail swishing side to side. So she padded inside and sat next to Snowkit. Snowkit was a white tom with golden paws.

"So there I was," Saturn meowed to them darkly. "Surrounded by Tree-eaters in the dark forest. A lone Tree-eater sat eating a nearby tree." Saturn's ears were flat against his head as he spoke. "I whirled around, just in time, mind you, to see three giant TwoLegs advancing towards me. I ran around them and climbed up the nearest Tree-eater. Then, as the Twolegs started running towards me, I jumped and.." Saturn never got to finish his sentence.

Suddenly, Icestar's yowl rang across the air. Rockpaw and Ashpelt just got back from hunting and stalking so Flamekit went up to them and told them to gather at Highrock.

Rockpaw and Flamekit raced across the clearing and skidded to a halt in front of the rock. Ashpelt trailed behind.

"I'll introduce you to everyone later and I think that you are getting a mentor and becoming an apprentice!" Rockpaw whispered into Flamewing's ear, quickly. "I loved it when Wetstar made me an apprentice!"

"It is time for Flamekit to become an apprentice." Icestar meowed calmly. Flamekit's heart skipped a beat. Dawnflower dashed up and murmured to Flamekit, " Oh Flamekit, your pelt's all dirty! What were you doing? Rolling in mud?"

"Maybe," Flamekit mewed guiltily. She _had_ rolled in some mud. Icestar leaped down from Highrock as Dawnflower quickly washed Flamekit's fur.

Icestar motioned to Flamekit to step up in front of the rock. Her heart wanted to break out of her ribcage as Flamekit bounced up.

"Flamekit**, **you have reached the age of six moons, and it is time for you to be apprenticed." Icestar meowed. "From this day on, until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Flamepaw. Your mentor will be Leafstorm. I hope Leafstorm will pass down all she knows onto you." Yowls of approval met Icestar's words. Icestar beckoned to Leafstorm to step up.

"Leafstorm**, **you are ready to take on an apprentice. You have received excellent training from Cloudheart," the old elder blushed. "And you have shown yourself to be brave and loyal. You will be the mentor of Flamepaw, and I expect you to pass on all you know to Flamepaw."

"FLAMEPAW! FLAMEPAW! FLAMEPAW!"

Leafstorm padded up to the now Flamepaw and touched noses with her. Then she purred kindly in her ear, "I will teach you a lot of things that no cat knows except me that I taught myself. Don't tell anyone, okay? It our little secret." Flamepaw slowly nodded her head.

"Can we go to the training area then go hunting?" Flamepaw asked Leafstorm. "Sure, but after that we need to explore the territory, " she meowed.

Flamepaw dashed over to the training area and waited for Leafstorm to come over.

"Alright, Flamepaw," Leafstorm began. "I'm going to teach you a few of the basics first. We'll start with the back kick," Leafstorm looked at Flamepaw as she explained what to do. "First, you turn around and wait until your enemy gets close enough that you can kick them. Judge the distance carefully; if you kick too soon, your enemy might see what you are doing and dodge it. Then," Leafstorm continued, "You lash out and take your weight on your front paws." Leafstorm finished. "You try." She mewed.

"Okay."

"Ready?"

Flamepaw nodded slowly and turned herself around, ready to kick Leafstorm. She imagined herself kicking a real enemy in a important battle over SunningRocks against GrassClan.

When Flamepaw finished judging her distance, she lashed out quickly at Leafstorm. Flamepaw heard her hiss in surprise.

"I didn't even know when you were going to kick!" Leafstorm purred as she recovered from the blow. "Now, for the front paw blow..."

A few minutes went by. Soon Flamepaw was batting and swatting Leafstorm with a hard front paw blow and back kick.

When they were out hunting, Leafstorm taught Flamepaw some of the secret moves that she told her about. The first move she taught Flamepaw was climbing up a tree to find the eggs of a bird. "Watch this and stay quiet," she meowed. She slowly and quickly climbed up the nearest tree. There was no nest up there so she jumped to another tree. Soon Flamepaw couldn't see her anymore. So she pictured Leafstorm climbing from tree to tree until she finds the perfect nest with a few bird eggs inside of it.

Flamepaw waited.

Suddenly, there was a rustle in the leaves and Leafstorm's head popped into view. Flamepaw purred as she meowed, "I got the eggs and the finch!" She climbed down and then mewed, panting. "All you do is hide the eggs in your mouth, kill the other bird, and climb down." She paused. "Then you wash off the eggs in a puddle or something," Leafstorm then buried her prey. "I'll get those later," She murmured.

Leafstorm blinked when Flamekit asked, "May I try now?"

"Yes, you may." She meowed. Flamepaw stealthily climbed up a tree and hopped to another.

The branches swayed under her weight and the breeze ruffled her ginger fur. Soon Flamepaw found a nest with a few eggs inside. She scooped the eggs up in her mouth just as the wagtail saw her. It squeaked with surprise and attacked Flamepaw. Flamepaw jumped over it and landed on its back. She pinned it down, and killed it by cutting off its windpipe with an unsheathed paw. Flamepaw climbed down the tree with the wagtail and eggs in her mouth. "Good job, Flamepaw! You hunted like StarClan themselves!" Warmed by the older cat's praise, Flamepaw and her mentor headed back to camp.

At first, Flamepaw thought she saw enemy warriors. Then Flamepaw was sure she saw CloudClan warriors. "LOOK OUT!" Flamepaw howled with her mouth full of wagtail and eggs. Flamepaw almost choked. Leafstorm and Flamepaw raced back to the camp and Leafstorm yowled as loud as she could, "ICESTAR! ICESTAR! ICESTAR! WE ARE BEING ATTACKED BY CLOUDCLAN!"

Flamepaw gave her eggs and wagtail to Leafstorm so she could clean them and put them away in the fresh kill pile. "Be careful out there," She told Flamepaw. "Use the moves I taught you when you were a kit and the ones I taught you earlier today. They are good for your first battle. We'll explore later. I promise." Flamepaw nodded and posed herself carefully.

_If Leafstorm thinks I can do it, _Flamepaw reminded herself. _Then I can. _

"CLOUDCLAN! ATTACK!"

_Oh, StarClan, _Flamepaw thought. _What are we in for now?_


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2:

A black and amber tom bowled Flamepaw over. She spat in surprise. Flamepaw then spun around to face her attacker. He was surprisingly thin but he was quick, with a playful look in his eyes. Flamepaw snarled then sprang at him.

One thing that Leafstorm taught her that day is that all cat's weak spot is their underbelly.

Flamepaw tried to flip him over with her sharp claws and she felt him lifting off the ground. Then Flamepaw dropped him and scrambled onto him to pin him down. Flamepaw then pressed down her front paws and sliced sheathed claws down his underbelly. He screeched in pain as he struggled to release her strong grip.

Flamepaw hissed in satisfaction. Suddenly, one of his legs became loose and he pushed her off of him. Flamepaw jumped up and got behind him. Flamepaw suddenly remembered about the back kick so she quickly ducked as he lashed out. He yowled in pain as Flamepaw caught his leg and sunk her teeth into it.

"Please," he mewed quietly, "I'm Thornpaw, and I really don't want to fight you... It's my leader... You know…"

Flamepaw stopped pressing her teeth down and looked at him in shock. Was it true?

"Get out of here!" Flamepaw heard a voice growl. "Get away from Flamepaw!" She spun around to see Rockpaw hissing and spitting towards Thornpaw.

"I'm sorry," Flamepaw whispered to Thornpaw. "But... you have to get out of here. Before Rockpaw here kills you for attacking me." Flamepaw nudged him and he looked back at her. Flamepaw blinked and he blinked back. "I'll see you later maybe," He nodded and hurried through the bushes.

"And don't come back!" Flamepaw heard Rockpaw yowl after him.

Soon CloudClan began to retreat. Most of NightClan went to the medicine cat's den. Flamepaw went to the apprentice's den and curled up in her nest of moss and leaves.

It was dark and a light rain piddered on the top of our dens that night. The rain dripped through the cracks in the den, but the apprentices didn't mind. That night was the first night that Flamepaw slept in the apprentice's den.

All of the kits wanted to go and frolic in the beautiful, glinting blue drops, but once they heard their mother's soft and gentle purrs, they soon fell fast asleep.

Flamepaw lay awake in her nest, thinking about what she did to Thornpaw. Then she wondered what would happen to her if Icestar found out. Flamepaw also thought what happens to cats that are friends but, were in different Clans? She lay there puzzling over these thoughts. After a while Flamepaw fell asleep.

Flamepaw was hunting a mouse. She parted her jaws ever so slightly to try to scent it. She slid through a gap between the trees, coming into a clearing. Flamepaw gazed around in confusion. She had never been there before. _Am I facing north or east?_ She wondered. Flamepaw looked up to try to find stars, but Silverpelt was clear. At the other end of the clearing sat a cat on a smooth rock. Flamepaw bewilderment increased as she recognized him. "Wetstar?" Flamepaw meowed shrilly like an excited kit.

Flamepaw had been a four moon kit, two and a half moons ago, when the leader of NightClan had died, as he leaped into a river to save Glowpaw, a newly made apprentice. Flamepaw had honored him since then, for Glowstripe was one of her friends who would give his life to protect her.

"Come closer, young apprentice, I have some news for you." His eyes reflected the starlight making them looking like two moons as Flamepaw slowly approached him. "I'm listening Wetstar." She mewed.

"A terrible trouble is coming to the forest as quickly and as slyly as a fox," Wetstar told me. "A new prophecy must be fulfilled if the Clans are to survive. You have been chosen to meet with three other cats at the fourth new moon and you must listen to what dawn tells you and must do whatever dawn says."

"What type of trouble? Dawn?" Flamepaw meowed quietly, uncertainty cocking her head to one side. "How can dawn tell us anything?"

"Soon everything will be clear to you." His voice echoed around the forest like he was everywhere but nowhere. "No! Wait!" Flamepaw cried out. "What do I do? DON'T LEAVE ME!" Darkness swallowed Wetstar and there was nothing there but stars. Her paws scrambled frantically in the dirt as she too, sunk into darkness.

Flamepaw had the same dream again. This time she knew that Flamepaw had to tell someone. She turned my head to the side to look at Rockpaw who was sleeping soundlessly. Flamepaw shook her head to herself. _He would just take it to Icestar. _Flamepaw thought. Suddenly, she thought of someone would would listen.

_Leafstorm._

Flamepaw scrambled to my paws and padded over to the warrior's den and whispered, "Leafstorm?" There was a grunt then an answer. "Yes, Flamepaw?"

The rain had stopped, so a few of the warriors and apprentices were missing from their nests.

"Can I talk to you?" Flamepaw asked. "Yes," Leafstorm said. She backed away from the den so Leafstorm could get out. Leafstorm came out and yawned. "What is it, Flamepaw?"

"I think I had a dream from StarClan." Flamepaw whispered trying not to let any other cat overhear. Leafstorm meowed back to her, "If it was from StarClan it would sent to the leader or medicine cat, not an newly made apprentice." She paused then added, "I also think that it is unwise for you to believe in these dreams. You probably ate too much at moonhigh."

"No, I didn't!" Flamepaw protested. "I only ate one tiny water vole!" Leafstorm waved the protest aside. "Flamepaw, calm down. We'll go exploring at sunrise to get your mind off things."

Leafstorm padded back over to the warriors den and ducked inside. A couple moments later Flamepaw heard the soft rumble of Leafstorm snoring. Even Leafstorm doesn't think that the dream is true. Suddenly, Flamepaw got an idea.

_There were four cats in all, including me_, she thought. _So, maybe one cat from each Clan got the same dream that I had. Wetstar said to meet at the fourth moon... Maybe they would go to Fourtrees to meet each other! _

_Yes, that will have to do._


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3:

This time Flamepaw woke Sunpaw up first. Sunpaw groaned as she dashed out of the den to bump into Rockpaw. "Hey, Rockpaw! What are you doing?"

"I _was_ trying to get to the fresh-kill pile." Rockpaw growled with a playful tone in his voice. "But _you_ got in the way."

"Try me." Flamepaw challenged. Rockpaw tried to swat her with his paw, but Flamepaw was faster than him. She swatted him then he kicked her gently but Flamepaw still saw stars. Flamepaw's stomach growled and Flamepaw jumped, her front paws in the air. Rockpaw knocked her over and stood over Flamepaw. Then, with her claws sheathed, Flamepaw batted Rockpaw's underbelly, pushing him off of her. With that, Flamepaw jumped on him. They rolled around in a huge bundle of laughter. Then Rockpaw and Flamepaw padded over to the fresh-kill pile and sat down and shared tongues.

At the end of the day Flamepaw realized that tonight was the Gathering. She went over to Leafstorm, who was eating with Webnose. "Leafstorm? Can I talk to you?"

"Yes, Flamepaw, I'm coming." Leafstorm mewed as she stood and padded over to Flamepaw.

"Leafstorm, can I go to the Gathering tonight?" She thought about this.

"Well," she meowed thoughtfully. "I'm not so sure..." she trailed off.

"But please, Leafstorm," Flamepaw pleaded with her. "I want to meet some new cats and hear the news of other Clans."

"Fine. You did catch a rather big squirrel..." she finally meowed. Flamepaw was full of excitement that she almost yowled to thank StarClan. Flamepaw ran to meet the other apprentices that were going to the Gathering. Rockpaw, Sunpaw, and Flamepaw were so happy that they started play-fighting like little kits. Soon the Clan were ready to go. Icestar led them with a flick of his tail to FourTrees.

When they got there, Flamepaw started searching for Thornpaw. She found him talking with a black she-cat with a ginger right hind leg from GrassClan. Flamepaw went up to him and meowed, "Hey Thornpaw! Can I talk to you?"

"It's you! What's your name?"

"Flamepaw."

Flamepaw padded over to an empty area and called for him. He bounded over to meet her. "Thornpaw, have you had a dream with the last leader who died in your Clan?" Flamepaw whispered to him. He looked at her in surprise. "You had it too?"

"Yes," Flamepaw meowed. "And I have been trying to figure out who the other cats are."

"Me too," Thornpaw meowed. Then he frowned. "Rainstar said 'You have been chosen to meet with three other cats at the fourth new moon' so there must be more than just us..."

"I got an idea last night," Flamepaw meowed, "Since our leaders told all of the cats who got the dream the same thing, then the other cats would know that we meet at the fourth moon! So we meet at Fourtrees."

"Good idea!"

"Oh," Flamepaw slowly added guilty. "Is your leg okay?"

"It's fine, Flamepaw."Then there was a yowl from HighRock.

She and Thornpaw sat next to each other and looked up at the huge rock. Icestar beaconed Thornpaw's leader, Weedstar, to go first. "CloudClan is hungry and is losing warriors quickly because of the TwoLegs. They are taking over most of our land and killing our prey." Scattered yowls came after that. Icestar silenced them. "Lightstar?" GrassClan's leader came up to stand at the top of the rock. "TwoLegs have been in our territories too," she meowed. "but haven't taken our prey." Then it was Icestar's turn to speak. "NightClan is fine, and we have just apprenticed this young cat. Her name is Flamepaw. And a few others." Icestar flicked his tail toward Flamepaw. Some cats meowed a congratulations to the she-cat. Then Beestar, LakeClan's leader stepped forward and shared the news of LakeClan. But Flamepaw wasn't listening.

She was trying to figure out who the cats from her dreams were. Flamepaw glanced at Thornpaw. He looked like he was trying to figure it out too.

Flamepaw hesitated then whispered into his ear, "It is time for you to go." He jerked out of his thoughts, and looked at the ginger she-cat. They each said good-bye to each other as they padded went back to camp with the other Clan members. Flamepaw went into the apprentice's den and curled up. _One cat down, two more to go!_

Flamepaw started to walk out of the apprentices' den when she stepped on something sharp. Flamepaw flinched. She lifted her paw to look at the thing Flamepaw had stepped on. She saw nothing except her golden paw. _It was probably an uneven piece of grass, _Flamepaw thought. _No big deal._

Cautiously, Flamepaw padded out of the den. Suddenly, she thought that it would be nice if she got an early start to catch prey. Then Flamepaw remembered what Leafstorm had said to her. She sighed then padded over to Leafstorm, who was just getting up. "Can I go hunting?" Flamepaw meowed impatiently.

"Yes, just wait for me."Flamepaw slowly ran out of the camp and into the open woods with Leafstorm at her heels.

Glancing at Leafstorm, Flamepaw scented the air then reported back to Leafstorm. "Mouse, fresh, a TwoLeg with a dog, stale. They must have been here yesterday. There's something else..." Flamepaw sniffed again. "I don't know what that is." She mewed, shaking her head.

"That's a fox," Leafstorm meowed. "They are slender creatures, they look like a cat but behave like a dog-"

"I know!" Flamepaw rolled her eyes, annoyed. "They sometimes become a threat because they run away with our kits... I know, I know!" Leafstorm shot her a glance of warning and Flamepaw fell silent.

"I'll get that mouse," Flamepaw murmured. She sniffed the air again. Flamepaw pinpointed the mouse; it was in the bushes, stuffing small berries into it's mouth. Suddenly, it scurried out, not noticing the two silent cats. It sat and started to wash itself. Flamepaw instantly started to stalk the mouse. It took no notice of her, only when Flamepaw slipped and almost fell. She caught herself and Leafstorm couldn't help but give her a look of impression. Flamepaw looked at her and her ears pricked up with amusement.

Slowly, Flamepaw got into a hunter's crouch and sprang. Leafstorm let out her breath and meowed, "Good job, Flamepaw! Let's go back."

"Can we go to the training hollow? I'm dying to go!"

"Okay. We can go to the hollow, after we drop off that mouse. Next time, don't make me report you to Icestar for talking back to me!" Leafstorm scolded.

"Sorry. It just slipped out!" The two she-cats padded back into the NightClan camp and plopped the mouse into the fresh kill pile. Flamepaw stretched her limbs one by one then meowed to Leafstorm,"Beat you to the training hollow!" Flamepaw pelted to the training hollow. Leafstorm came padding slowly after her. "You didn't even try!" Flamepaw meowed to Leafstorm when she got the the hollow. She purred. "I don't need to. If I did I would have beat you." She teased.

"Would _not!_"

"Would _too!_"

"Would _not!_"

"What should we practice?" Leafstorm changed the subject. "I want to practice…" Flamepaw trailed off.

"Do you want to practice… finding your opponent's weakness and strategies? Or leap and hold?" Leafstorm asked. "Yes! Both!" Flamepaw meowed with excitement in her eyes.

So they practiced that until Flamepaw was bowling Leafstorm over with battle moves. "Well done!" Leafstorm gasped, out of breath, as she struggled to her paws. "Let's go back to camp."

Flamepaw and Leafstorm padded back to camp to find Rockpaw rushing up to Flamepaw. "Flamepaw!" he meowed as we touched noses. "Do you want to finish meeting the other warriors, apprentices, queens, elders, deputy, and medicine cat?" He finished out of breath. _I forgot all about that!_ Flamepaw thought. She looked at Leafstorm and she nodded her permission. "Sure!" Flamepaw meowed and then Rockpaw and she went to meet the other Clan cats.

"There are two more warriors you must meet, and then we can go meet the apprentices." Rockpaw meowed. "This is Glowstripe and Snowfrost." He pointed to two young cats grooming their fur together. It was easy to tell who Snowfrost was because Snowfrost was a white tom with blue eyes and Glowstripe was a black tom with brown flecks and green eyes.

Glowstripe smiled at Flamepaw and meowed playfully, "Hey, I know this cat." Glowstripe was Sunpaw's mentor and one of Flamepaw best friends. "Let's go see the apprentices," Rockpaw meowed. "This is Lightpaw." He nodded his head toward the two cats. Lightpaw was a brown tom with white paws and icy blue eyes. _Snowfrost must be his father,_ Flamepaw thought suddenly. The two cats went down to the apprentice's den and peeked inside. "This is Smokepaw and Amberpaw, You should know them. You sleep _next _to them!" Rockpaw mewed.

"I do! I just need a refresher sometimes," Flamepaw mewed.

"Right!" Rockpaw meowed, rolling his eyes.

Amberpaw was a sandy colored she-cat with brown eyes and paws. Smokepaw was a gray tom with blue eyes and black paws. "Can we meet the deputy now?" Flamepaw asked Rockpaw.

"Yes, we can." Rockpaw meowed. We walked over to the deputy, Silverheart. "Flamepaw, this is Silverheart." Rockpaw meowed. "It's nice to meet you." She mewed as she nodded her head in greeting. Rockpaw and Flamepaw padded over to the medicine cat's den. "Rainfur?" Rockpaw mewed into the den. There was a crash. "Who is it?" Came the answer. "Rockpaw and Flamepaw." Flamepaw meowed, slowly and clearly. They backed away from the den as a brown she-cat with light green eyes came tumbling out.

"Sorry," she muttered. "This kit won't take his medicine." Rockpaw purred gently to her, "Promise him that you'll give him honey if he takes it. It always works. Trust me," Rainfur nodded.

"I'll try it Rockpaw. But if it doesn't work, _you'll _need to get me more honey!"

"Elders next!" Flamepaw meowed to Rockpaw. But before the apprentices could move a whisker, there was a yowl of terror. Then there was a cat pelting out of the camp.

"GET HER! IT'S SILVERCLAW, CAT OF CLOUDCLAN!" yowled Leafstorm.

_Geez, _Flamepaw thought. _How did a cat get in here without getting noticed? That's just wrong._

Without waiting for another yowl, Flamepaw tried to charge after the fleeing she-cat into the woods. But she was gone. Flamepaw knew that she could easily kill her so she decided not to follow Silverclaw. There was another yowl so Flamepaw turned tail and ran back to the heart of camp. "WHERE ARE RABBITPAW AND WAVEPAW!?" yowled a white queen with brown and black flecks and amber paws, named Frostblaze. "WHERE ARE THEY?!" Then it hit Flamepaw. Silverclaw had taken the two apprentices. Or the apprentices followed her. Flamepaw carefully checked the place where the she-cat had gone, but there was nothing left except a piece of brown fur.


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4:

_A quarter-moon_ had passed since Rabbitpaw and Wavepaw disappeared. Flamepaw was out hunting a mouse. Leafstorm had gone to catch a bird of some kind while she went her own way. She had told Flamepaw to meet her back at camp once Flamepaw caught the mouse. The mouse Flamepaw had trapped slipped out of her golden paws. "Fox dung!" She murmured. As Flamepaw tried to find the mouse again, Flamepaw scented the reek of blood and death. _There must have been a battle here,_ she thought. Then Flamepaw saw a bit of fur. Thinking it was the mouse, Flamepaw sneaked up on it then sprang. But it wasn't the mouse. Flamepaw tripped fell down onto something that was bigger than a mouse. Wavepaw! Flamepaw hopped off him to see if he was alive. Wavepaw was dead. His hind leg was disconnected from his body and his front paw was twisted unnaturally. Bite marks were on his muzzle but, Flamepaw didn't think it was from a cat. Some of his bone poked through the skin and it looked like something had eaten him alive. The look of him made Flamepaw shudder. Slowly, Flamepaw scanned the area and saw Rabbitpaw laying in a corner but unlike Wavepaw, she was alive! Flamepaw pelted over to her. "Get away from here Flamepaw…" she mewed quietly. "They will get you too… and kill you... Get away…. Silverclaw... she did not do this to me... We followed her... But it was a bad idea... We got lost at the wrong time..." Then her eyes got wide. "Tree-eaters... everywhere... big... loud... trees... dead...broken... bodies... none... left...alive...gone...wolves...here-" She murmured.

"Quiet," Flamepaw whispered. "We're going to get Rainfur and fix you up. Hang in there! Don't leave..." But what she had said rattled Flamepaw. She wasn't sure what Rabbitpaw meant. Flamepaw was about to pick her up but, the whisper of breath was gone. Flamepaw ran back to camp and howled, "WAVEPAW AND RABBITPAW ARE DEAD!" Frostblaze came out of her den, her eyes full of grief. "Show me where they are so I can see them one last time," mewed Frostblaze. Flamepaw sadly showed her where their bodies were, and then came back to camp. On the way back, Flamepaw thought she heard Frostblaze muttered something about Silverclaw. Flamepaw went to check in Icestar and to see if he was okay. "Icestar?"

"Come in," he rasped.

"Are you alright?" Flamepaw asked him.

"Yes," he meowed.

"Can I get you a mouse or anything to eat or drink?"

"Thank you, Flamepaw, but no. I'm fine."

Flamepaw backed out of the den and padded across the clearing towards Leafstorm.

"May I go get a drink, Leafstorm?" Flamepaw asked her. " By myself this time?"

"Yes, you may, just don't take forever." She replied calmly.

Flamepaw heart was pounding against her ribs as she exited the camp. Flamepaw ran over to the CloudClan territory border and whispered, "Thornpaw?" There was a rustle of bushes nearest to Flamepaw and out popped Thornpaw. "Thornpaw!" She purred. "Flamepaw!" He purred back.

"It was nice meeting you here," Flamepaw mewed. "I can't wait until the Gathering!"

"Did you get any weird dreams yet?"

"Nope, not yet. You?" Flamepaw asked.

"No, thank StarClan. When I have those dreams I can never sleep again." Flamepaw purred.

There was a faint rustle in the bushes and Flamepaw heard a distant yowl. "Oops," Thornpaw meowed. "I gotta go! See you at the Gathering!"

"Okay, see you then!" Flamepaw purred.

"Bye!" he meowed as he faded into the distance. Flamepaw's heart was tingling as she went to get a drink. Then, she went back to camp and took two water voles to the elders. They didn't talk much, but meowed their thanks as they ate. Then Flamepaw took a thrush for herself. As she tore into the flesh of the thrush, Flamepaw thought about her small feeling about Thornpaw… _No_. _The way he talked... NO. _ Flamepaw shook herself harshly. After Flamepaw had finished her small meal, she slowly went into the apprentice's den and curled up in her nest.

Flamepaw woke up before everyone else and slipped out of the camp. She went to get some cold water for her dry mouth again. _It will just take a minute..._Flamepaw thought. _Leafstorm wouldn't mind._

The water was cool and refreshing to Flamepaw's mouth. Her whole body relaxed as Flamepaw drank in as much as she could stand. Flamepaw was so wrapped up in drinking that she didn't hear another cat approaching. Slowly, Flamepaw looked up at the cat. He looked down at her like Flamepaw had three heads.

He was much smaller then Flamepaw so he looked like a kit. But he spoke like an apprentice like her, which surprised Flamepaw. He was a black tom with brown eyes and paws.

Flamepaw quickly stood up as he hissed, "What are you doing so close to our territory?"  
>"I was just getting some water. I am Flamepaw, cat of NightClan." Flamepaw carefully retorted. His face softened. "Sorry," he mewed "I'm Tinypaw, cat of GrassClan. Everyone knows that I'm a little tense sometimes."<p>

"I got to get back to camp, Tinypaw," Flamepaw meowed. "See you at the Gathering!" he called.

She raced back to camp, pausing to catch a mouse. Flamepaw didn't want to come back with nothing. She quickly dropped her fresh-kill in the pile and got ready to go to the Gathering.


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter 5:

_At the Gathering,_ Thornpaw saw Flamepaw talking to some other cats. He padded over to her to meet her friends. "Oh! Hi, Thornpaw!" she purred as the two touched noses gently. "This is Tinypaw, cat of GrassClan, and his sister, Brightpaw!"

"Hi, Thornpaw!" Brightpaw mewed to the tom. "Hi!" Tinypaw meowed, looking up at Thornpaw. "LakeClan should be here by now." Thornpaw slowly whispered. "I wonder where they are." As he spoke, LakeClan came dashing out of the bushes. Suddenly, Thornpaw leaped out of the way to let a dark brown tom go tumbling to the ground. "Are you okay?" Tinypaw squeaked. "Yes, I am okay." The tom meowed gruffly. He padded away and started to wash himself.

The four friends sat there for a few heartbeats then Thornpaw give Tinypaw a glance and meowed, "I'll be right back." Thornpaw ran over to Weedstar to help him up onto the Great Rock, because he had whitecough, and then ran back to Flamepaw and the others.

Cautiously, Thornpaw put his head on Flamepaw's warm flank, breathing in her warm scent. Thornpaw thought suddenly, _I could do this until the next moonhigh…. Or maybe even longer!_ Soon he heard a yowl from the Highrock and sat up instantly. "Cats of all Clans!" Beestar yowled, with annoyment in his tone. "NightClan's leader would like to speak first."

"Thank you, Beestar." Icestar meowed. "I would like to say that one of CloudClan's warriors tried to kill me," he meowed his eyes darting to Silverclaw. "Who did it?" came a faint voice from the other side of the rock.

"Silverclaw was the one who did it!" He pointed to her angrily with his tail. Weedstar didn't say anything.

He just looked at his paws in shame. Lightstar spoke up. "CloudClan have been stealing our prey." Lightstar looked at Weedstar like he was a TwoLeg.

"We caught them on a patrol!" Featherfrost, the GrassClan deputy, yowled.

"They invaded our camp!"

"They took our prey!"

"He tried to kill our warriors!"

There was a great yowling among the four Clans. Lightstar quickly held up her tail for silence. "Is that true?" Beestar meowed. Before Weedstar could protest, a cat yowled, "Of course its true! I saw myself that they were stealing our prey and rolling in mud to cover their tracks!"

"They think all the other Clans are stupid and soft hearted. They think they can just take all the things that they need and get away with it!"

"Everyone agrees that Clans cannot trespass on another's territory... BUT NO! CloudClan thinks they're the best!"

"YEAH!"

Again, Lightstar impatiently held up her tail. "Weedstar, I can understand a few stolen rabbits and mice. But, trying to kill another leader?" Lightstar shook her head. "That's not right!" Slowly, a murmur of agreement rippled through the four Clans. Weedstar nodded, but still said nothing.

As if they were still making their choice, clouds crawled over the moon. CloudClan and NightClan started to disappear into the bushes, filing back to their territories. Lightstar jumped off the rock and nodded to Beestar.

He slowly nodded back. Lightstar signaled with her tail and soon had her Clan following their deputy into the bushes. Lightstar's and Beestar's eyes met. They seemed to be whispering words to each other:

_If this happens again, you know what to do._

"Flamepaw," Leafstorm mewed. "I think you are ready to take your final assessment." Flamepaw bounced on the tip of her pads happily. " You really think so?" She mewed. "Am I going to do it with Smokepaw?" She paused for a heartbeat then pleaded, "Don't invite Sunpaw, she's a bossypaws!"

Leafstorm flicked her tail at Flamepaw's wiggling ears. "Stop teasing!" She purred. "Smokepaw will be coming. But I don't know about Sunpaw…" Leafstorm was interrupted by Smokepaw's yowl. He bowled into Flamepaw, who leaped onto his back. He flipped himself over and, with claws sheathed, raked his paws down her underbelly. She reared up on her hind paws, just to dodge, then came crashing down on top of Smokepaw, who squeaked under the impact. " Okay!" Called a voice. "That's enough of that!" Webnose padded up and gently pushed Flamepaw off of Smokepaw, then pulled him away. "Hey!" He protested as his mentor dropped him on the ground.

"No fighting please," Webnose mewed to Smokepaw sternly.

"Okay," Smokepaw looked at his paws. Then, he walked over to Flamepaw and started to wash himself slowly. "I was about to show you my new fighting move," He whispered. "But old spider-mouth stopped me."

"Hey, be nice!" Flamepaw purred, poking him with her paw. " Respect your mentor. He tries hard. You realize that he has had two other apprentices already. He must know what he's doing."

At that moment, Leafstorm padded up to the two apprentices. She mewed. "We are starting now. Smokepaw, you can start near Fourtrees, and Flamepaw, you go to the owl tree." Flamepaw and Smokepaw nodded slightly, then Flamepaw took off towards the owl tree.

Once Flamepaw got there, she scented the air. _Owl, stale. Fox, stale. Mouse...Fresh! _She got into a hunter's crouch and sniffed. The mouse was scrambling at tree bark, trying to climb it. Flamepaw knew it was cornered; there were two other trees around it. Flamepaw crouched deeply, then sprang. The mouse was killed in less than a heartbeat. Flamepaw buried her prey and headed out for more.


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter 6:

The next moonhigh, Icestar yowled, "All cats old enough to catch their own prey join me for a Clan meeting!" All of the cats came out of their dens looking sleepy-eyed. "It is time for Flamepaw, Smokepaw, and Sunpaw to become warriors." He meowed calmly. "Flamepaw, Sunpaw and Smokepaw come up here." Her heart pounded as Flamepaw jumped forward in front of the rock. "I, Icestar, leader of NightClan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on this apprentices. They has trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code, and we commend them to you as warriors in turn.

Flamepaw, Sunpaw and Smokepaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend this Clan even at the cost of your own life?" Icestar meowed seriously.

"I do." Flamepaw whispered.

"I do!" Smokepaw called loud enough to scare away prey for a mile.

"I do," Sunpaw mewed.

"Then by the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior names, Flamepaw, this moment on you will be known as Flamewing. Sunpaw, from this moment on you will be known as Sunstorm. Smokepaw, you will be called Smokewhisker. StarClan honors you for your cunning and intelligence and we welcome you as full warriors in NightClan." Icestar finished. Icestar touched his muzzle against her's and Flamewing licked his shoulder in return. Sunstorm and Smokewhisker dipped their heads deeply. "Flamewing! Sunstorm! Smokewhisker!" All the cats yowled, loudest of all, Leafstorm.

Flamewing sat down while a few cats went back to sleep. Some just wandered off. Flamewing sat in silence with the other new warriors as the cool breeze flew past her.

The next morning, Rockpaw came dashing up to her. "Flamepaw!" Flamewing looked at him like she didn't know who he was. "Oops-Sorry! Flame_wing_," he corrected himself. "Want to eat? Or hunt?" Flamewing shook her head. "Oops!" Rockpaw meowed sheepishly. "Sorry!"

At that moment, Leafstorm came up to Flamewing and mewed, "Flamewing, you may speak now." She nodded her thanks as Leafstorm padded away.

"In a minute," Flamewing meowed to Rockpaw. She padded over next to Leafstorm and asked, "Do you know how to fish?" Leafstorm blinked. "Of course I do!" she mewed.

"Can you teach me?"

"Sure," So we slipped out of camp and headed to the river. "All you need to do is look in the water and wait for a fish then you just scoop them out like so," she scooped up a fish and then slammed it against a rock for the kill. "See, easy." Leafstorm meowed. "May I try?" Flamewing asked. Leafstorm nodded. "Sure you can! You're a warrior now!" She purred.

Flamewing patiently waited for a fish and found one. She picked it out of the water and slammed it against a rock. _Leafstorm was right. It was easy._Flamewing thought.

As they padded back to camp, Flamewing saw Icestar laying in the warm patch of sun so she went over to him and dropped a fish next to him then meowed to him, "You should eat, Icestar. It will be good for you." He looked up at Flamewing then at the fish. He pulled it close to him and took a bite. "Good." He murmured. Leafstorm put the other fish on the pile. It was getting bigger. _That's good,_ she thought.

Flamewing went up to Rockpaw and asked "So…. Can we finish meeting everyone?"

"Sure." The two cats went over to the elder's den. "Flamewing, this is Cloudheart and Orangeblaze." he said then murmured "I'm never going to get used to that name." He meowed. Flamewing let out a _mmrreeooww_ of laughter.

Cloudheart was a pure white she-cat with brown paws and Orangeblaze is a brown tom with white and amber flecks. "Let's meet the queens… and their cute kits!" Rockpaw meowed.

Flamewing and Rockpaw padded over to the den where the queens rest and Rockpaw mewed as he pointed to the correct cats in turn. "This is Blackcloud, Pinkflight, and you know Frostblaze and Dawnflower." Dawnflower was the only queen with two kits that looked just like her, an amber she-cat and tom with dark green eyes. She was Flamewing and Rockpaw's mother. Flamewing went over to her and licked her in congratulations. Pinkflight was brown with black paws and blue eyes. Blackcloud was black and had white paws. "I think that's it." Rockpaw meowed. They padded out of the den and Flamewing suddenly asked Rockpaw, "Do you want to come and hunt with me for a while?" Rockpaw blinked. "Sure." So Flamewing and Rockpaw padded out to find some prey. "Find any?" Rockpaw asked after a while. "No," Flamewing meowed. "Let's go look by the Thunderpath." Flamewing ran over to it, smelling, then recoiled at the scent. _Yuck! TwoLegs stink!_ She thought. Suddenly, a TwoLeg came by and tried to grab her. It missed and she hissed then fled. "What happened?" Rockpaw asked when Flamewing came with her fur puffing out with surprise.

"I thought I saw a rogue. Let's go look somewhere else." Flamewing lied.

_We need to meet up soon so we can help our Clans… I know! Since Wetstar said to meet in four moons, we should do that... When is the fourth moon?_ Flamewing counted. _The fourth moon is the next moon! We'll meet then! At Fourtrees after the Gathering. _Flamewing thought as Rockpaw and she went back to camp.

_At the Gathering_, Flamewing waited for Thornpaw to come sit with me. Soon he did. "Thornpaw!" Flamewing meowed.

"I am not Thornpaw anymore, I'm Thornfrost!" he mewed, sticking his tail up high, proudly.

"Good!" the she-cat purred. "I'm Flamewing!" As they talked Tinypaw and Brightpaw came up to sit with them.

"Can I talk to you?" Thornfrost asked Flamewing.

"Sure!"Together, the two padded over by themselves in a corner.

"We are going to meet each other right after the Gathering," Thornfrost meowed quietly to Flamewing. "Right after moonset but not before sunhigh so then no cat will know we're gone."

"But what if another cat finds out or comes with us?" She asked.

"If they do find out they will not be able to find us. If they come with us-!?" Thornfrost meowed with shock as a sandy she-cat bowled him over and whacked him on the ear with a sharp claw. "Be quiet!" she spat. "The meeting is starting!"

Lightstar stepped forward. "We are under attack!" She yowled under the moon. "Weedstar has attacked us once more!"

"What is the meaning of this Weedstar?" Icestar demanded. "Why are you making all of these attacks!?" Beestar glanced at Lightstar and quickly nodded heads. Weedstar just shifted uncomfortably and said nothing. "Well?!" Beestar meowed. He just looked up at Beestar with sorry looking eyes. "I'm sorry," he rasped quietly. He looked like he meant it. "I just needed to keep my Clan from starving. There is no prey in our territory." Flamewing felt a pang of sympathy for the old leader.

"Well," Beestar spat angrily at the sorry Weedstar. "That doesn't mean that you can steal prey, that's against the warrior code!" Weedstar growled softly at Beestar, who was lashing his tail angrily. Lightstar stepped up to calm down the two leaders. "Let's just calm down-"

"Calm down? CALM DOWN!?" Weedstar rasped then coughed, "Call off the meeting then-" Suddenly Weedstar broke into a coughing fit. As he was coughing, he lost his balance and fell off the rock. Thornfrost ran up to him and called, "Mudpelt!" A brown tom with black paws and dark blue eyes came rushing up. "It is okay, Weedstar…" he meowed. "Okay? OKAY? I JUST FELL OFF HIGHROCK! DOES THAT CROSS YOUR MIND?! THESE LEADERS DON'T KNOW WHY WE'RE ATTACKING THEM! IT'S THE TWOLEGS! WE NEED TO ATTACK TO GET PREY, NON POISONED WATER, AND A BIGGER CAMP! OUR CLAN IS GROWING!"

"Calm down Weedstar." Thornfrost whispered soothingly. That seemed to do the trick. "Weedstar needs a moon to rest." Mudpelt called to the other leaders then meowed, "He must be starting to get greencough, that's why he is so confused."

_I wouldn't say confused, _Flamewing thought. _I would say foolish. He should of had his deputy come if it was this bad._

"We need to call off the meeting," Mudpelt continued, "I don't want to take any chances." Before anyone could say a word, CloudClan started to leave. "See you later." Thornfrost sighed as he brushed past Flamewing softly. "Flamewing!" Icestar called to her. "We're leaving!"


	8. Chapter 7

Chapter 7:

_When Flamewing got_ back to camp everyone was either out hunting or training. Slowly, Flamewing padded over to the warrior's den and curled up. She thought about the meeting that we were going to have.

Soon Flamewing fell asleep.

Flamewing was back in the clearing with Wetstar. "Wetstar!" She purred. Flamewing padded towards him. His eyes were closed so Flamewing sat and waited for him to say something.

"_When the moon outshines the sun... sun... sun," _Wetstar meowed in a voice that wasn't his own that echoed around the clearing. It seemed like all the cats Flamewing knew blurred into one voice.

Flamewing jerked up her head to look at the sun. Suddenly, the moon flew over it, covering its rays. As if the sun burnt out, the world went black. Flamewing gasped.

"_The forest will fall... fall.._" Slowly, the clearing grew brighter, just enough so Flamewing could see. Wetstar was gone, maybe in a tree somewhere. The clearing grew warmer and brighter but Flamewing heard the sizzle of a fire being born. As if on cue, a tree right in front of Flamewing burst into flames.

"Fire!" She yowled, turning tail and bolting into the trees. "FIRE!" Flamewing ran through the forest, trying to outrun the flames. But she knew she would need to stop and rest; for she wasn't a GrassClan cat. Flamewing ran until she thought her legs would burn off and she would die from lack of air.

Flamewing stumbled over a bramble which she knew wasn't there a heartbeat ago. She panted hard and heard the fire edging closer, as if it was stalking its prey. Flamewing scrambled to her feet and turned again to keep running only to be cornered between a large gaping pit and the pitiless flames.

Suddenly, she knew how mice felt when they were about to get killed from a cat.

"_And..." _Flamewing heard the weird Wetstar's voice coming from the sky. "_The path of stars... will vanish..." _Smoke rose from the fire as it crept forward. Smoke filled Flamewing's vision and lungs. "_In the smoke..."_ The voices finished and echoed around Flamewing.

Suddenly, she lurched forward, vomiting from the overwhelming smoke and fire. Once she had finished, Flamewing curled up in a ball, away from the fire as much as possible without falling into the pit. Then there, she curled up in a tight ball and cried, "Fire! Help!" But she cried in vain; for the roaring of the fire drowned out all other sounds.

Wetstar appeared in Flamewing's mind, sitting on the rock when they first had met in Flamewing's dreams. His eyes were still closed and when he opened his eyes they were white and blinding as the sun.

For a split second, they turned dark then back to the normal amber eyes that Wetstar had. Flamewing pelted over to the rock and pushed her muzzle into his fur as he put his tail over her protectively.

Flamewing huddled closer; she wanted all the bad to leave. She wanted everything to go back to normal. Flamewing wanted to feel like a kit again, next to Rockpaw and Dawnflower, with nothing to worry about in the world with the warmth of her mother and brother next to her.

She had also wished that Wetstar had never died, because Wetstar was gentle and caring, not charging into battle but fighting for what he knew was right. Flamewing wished Glowpaw hadn't been such a mouse brain and tried to swim to the other side of the river. The river swept him away, with Wetstar at his heels as he saved the young apprentice... but not himself.

Soon, the smell of the flames died, the warmth of Wetstar froze and Flamewing fell into darkness.

Suddenly, Flamewing was fighting for her life in the cold water. Flamewing thrashed and kicked to swim to land but wherever she looked there was no land… only dark water. Something pulled at her leg, and Flamewing was forced into the water. She pushed at the ground and something stung her leg.

The sun reflected off the water, leaving a streak of blood red across the water.

Flamewing gulped. Unfortunately, she gulped down a mouthful of salty water. Flamewing told her legs to keep kicking as they screamed for a break. Something pulled at Flamewing's right leg. She told it to kick. It refused. Flamewing was pulled under again and all she saw was the darkness of the water.

Suddenly, Flamewing heard something hissing but it wasn't a cat. It was a snake. It bit she and Flamewing swatted it away. She heard hissing again but louder this time. Adders were attacking. Flamewing tried to swim back to the surface, but the snakes coiled around her and bit Flamewing repeatedly. One shot out of the water and flew up into the air. Flamewing unsheathed her claws and slapped them away one by one then she shot up to the surface.

"Help! Water everywhere! Adders!" Flamewing cried. "Swim!" Wildly, she thrashed around and finally found the shore, far away. _Maybe I could get there if these adders don't kill me,_ Flamewing thought. With that, Flamewing pulled herself into full gear, and swam. Suddenly, a snake slammed into Flamewing's muzzle. She felt herself freeze to the bone and sink to the bottom of the sea.

Soon Flamewing heard a different voice. A milky white face of a cat appeared next to Flamewing, but it was blurry and unreadable.

"Flamewing, why do you sleep?" It softly meowed. "Get up and fight until the end!"

Flamewing stirred in her nest then suddenly woke up. It was the time for the meeting to begin. So Flamewing got up, gave herself a fast wash and headed out to where the meeting was held.

_That voice sounded so familiar... _

"Thornfrost!" Thornfrost quickly looked up to see Goldenblaze padding towards him. "Stop eating all the fresh-kill! Are you going somewhere or are you just hungry?"

"Well... um... I'm very hungry Goldenblaze. I just came back from..." Thornfrost tried to lie.

"I don't care where you just came from! Just stop eating all the prey in the forest!" Goldenblaze hissed.

"Yes, Goldenblaze," Thornfrost meowed, finishing his last bite of vole. His stomach was full of prey, a vole and a small frog but he was still a little bit hungry. _Just one more mouse! _Thornfrost thought. He gingerly padded over to the pile, as if he hadn't eaten in days, and snatched up the smallest mouse in the pile. Thornfrost chewed quickly and swallowed. _Ah, that's better. _He thought. _Maybe I shouldn't have eaten _that _much prey._.. _Oh well, it can't be helped. At least I wouldn't have to eat anything for a while. _

"Hey, Thornfrost! Is it me or are you fatter?" Thornfrost heard Treefoot call. Thornfrost looked down as he padded slowly to the edge of camp meowed, "It's just you! I'm not fat!"

Thornfrost heard Treefoot snicker. He leaped down the cliff side and spread his paws out. The wind pushed him up, so it slowed his fall. The skin between his shoulders and ankles helped him glide and was what made CloudClan, CloudClan. Soon the ground appeared under Thornfrost so he put out his front paws to land.

The entrance to the camp was inside and through the cliffs. It was a maze and only a CloudClan cat could get through. If there was an emergency, you would go around the cliffs on a path Weedstar dug out. CloudClan's camp was in the heart of the cliffs. That's why CloudClan hardly got invaded. If they did, they must have been spied on.

When Thornfrost landed, he started to walk to Fourtrees. There was a short cut through the river so Thornfrost decided to go that way.

When Thornfrost got to Fourtrees, he sat and waited for a while. He was the first one there. With all the prey in his stomach, Thornfrost felt drowsy. His eyes sagged slowly, but surely, and after a while, Thornfrost promptly fell asleep, snoring.

As Flamewing walked to Fourtrees, she still had the taste of salty water in her mouth. _Oh no,_ Flamewing thought, reminding herself. _I still have to cross that smelly Thunderpath! And my legs _still _hurt!_

Flamewing padded up to the Thunderpath, looked for any monsters coming then ran as fast as her legs could carry her.

Thankfully, they didn't stop.

When Flamewing crossed over the scent marker and into FourTrees, she saw Thornfrost and Brightpaw. "Whoa!" Flamewing meowed. "You had the dream too?"

"Yeah!" The she-cat mewed proudly.

"If I had known that, I would have met you long ago!" Flamewing joked. They all purred with laughter.

"Where is Tinypaw?" Thornfrost asked them when Flamewing sat down next to him.

"He's getting the herbs… oh and I'm Brightstorm now," Brightstorm meowed softly.

Suddenly, the dark brown tom that Thornfrost jumped over padded into the clearing. "Oh, it's you guys," He hissed. "Great!" The tom rolled his eyes. "Who are you?" Brightstorm mewed.

"Darkblaze." He sat next to Thornfrost, but not more than a tail length, and began washing himself.

Soon, Flamewing told them about her dream and the other dream with the flames. Fourtrees was silent and Flamewing didn't get an answer until Darkblaze spoke.

"Maybe it's from StarClan." Darkblaze mewed roughly. "Salt could mean the sun-drown-place because there is salt water there...Let's go there to look for dawn." We all agreed.

"The other dream could have been a prophecy for us." Thornfrost piped up. "_When the moon outshines the sun..._ I think that might mean nighttime maybe..." Thornfrost trailed off uncertainly and glanced at Brightstorm for help.

"_The forest will fall,_ maybe the forest will get destroyed somehow. But what? Fire maybe? _The path of stars_? Maybe StarClan?" Brightstorm shrugged. "Maybe we'll try to figure it out along the way."

"That's a lot of maybe's," Flamewing mused. Darkblaze grunted in agreement.

She sat down next to Thornfrost who put his head on her flank. Thornfrost sat up and licked her muzzle. Flamewing started to purr with happiness.

Soon Tinypaw came out of the bushes. "Here guys… eat this." He meowed. He handed the group a bundle of herbs.

"Okay! But how did you get them without being seen?" Thornfrost asked eagerly.

Tinypaw shook his head. "I had to lie a little, even though I don't like lies." He shook his head again.

"Thanks, Tinypaw. Maybe you should come with us!" Brightstorm purred proudly.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Darkblaze meowed. "He can't come! The prophecy said only four cats could come. Not five!"

"Darkblaze, he already knows. He could tell all the Clans and make them come look for us!" Brightstorm narrowed her eyes. "_That _would be more than five cats!" Brightstorm paused for Flamewing to speak.

"What could go wrong if he comes along?"

"Well, one he could die, and two he could get eaten by an eagle or badger!"

"Those two things are pretty much the same!" Tinypaw pointed out.

Darkblaze turned to face him. "Exactly!"

Tinypaw sighed as he pawed at the herbs to separate them.

As soon they finished the bitter herbs the five stood and planed for what they needed to do before they left. "We should go hunting so we can get more strength for the long trip." Brightstorm meowed, as Flamewing washed Thornfrost's ruffled fur. As if on cue, there was a flash of black fur in the bushes. Flamewing stood slowly and stalked towards the animal, thinking it was a rabbit. Quickly, she pounced but the animal darted away.

Flamewing fell onto the cold and damp ground. Thornfrost whipped around to look at what Flamewing had saw. He found out that it was a very small kit. It was black with dark ginger eyes and light amber paws. From the smell of it, the five cats could tell it was a kittypet. It looked at the Clan cats in surprise. Brightstorm gently meowed to it, "What are you doing out here, little kit?" It looked at us and mewed, "Do you have an UpWalker?"

"What?"

"An UpWalker." Thornfrost nudged Flamewing.

"I think she means a TwoLeg." She blinked.

"No… What's your name little one?" Brightstorm meowed.

"Lily," she answered.

"I'm Flamewing. This is Thornfrost, Brightstorm, Tinypaw, and Darkblaze." Flamewing meowed, as I pointed to each cat in turn.

"So," Brightstorm meowed. "Can you show us where the TwoL-" Tinypaw give her a reminding look. "I mean, the UpWalker Place is?"


	9. Chapter 8

Chapter 8:

"Rockpaw!" Silverheart called as Rockpaw groaned. "Icestar wants you," The deputy meowed. "He told me that you might become a warrior…if you get up." She added dryly. Rockpaw quickly sat up, immediately awake. "Icestar said that?" He meowed as Rockpaw followed Silverheart into Icestar's den.

Icestar was sitting in his den, waiting for Rockpaw. Icestar dipped his head towards Silverheart and she backed out of the den. He motioned for Rockpaw to sit, and Rockpaw sat.

Icestar sighed, gave himself a fast wash then meowed, "Flamewing is missing." Rockpaw hissed, hoping that this wasn't true; Rockpaw shook his head in disbelief.

"I thought she was just doing something for you... But Flamewing would never run away..." Rockpaw trailed off thinking of why Icestar was telling him this now. "It could be something important..."

"Wait, Rockpaw," Icestar interrupted Rockpaw suddenly. "Did Flamewing tell you where she was going? I thought she went to explore or to go hunting for a while."

"No, but I had a dream like this: Flamewing was drowning in flames, dying in the smoke. I couldn't do anything to help or save her." Rockpaw answered sadly, looking down at the floor. "It's like now."

"It's my fault." Icestar mewed quietly. "I should have kept a better eye on her... I'm mouse-brained; I knew that she would do something like this..." Icestar shook his head when Rockpaw slowly meowed, "No, you are not, Icestar. You're one of the best leaders ever!"

"Yes, but Silverheart does most of the work. She should be leader! I should just die or retire!" Icestar shook his head. "Rockpaw, I think you are ready to become a warrior tonight at moonhigh. Sorry, that your younger sister became a warrior before you. That must be hard for you. Since Ashpelt had to do something for me, it stopped your training for a while."

"I wish Flamewing will be here to see me." Rockpaw mewed under his breath, hoping that Flamewing could hear him.

Rockpaw knew that he and Flamewing had a special connection to each other. If something happened that was a very important part of their lives, they both could see it. If Rockpaw ate something, Flamewing could taste it even if she was far away. Or if she saw something bad or a dream, Rockpaw might see it too. He hoped thinking something would work the same way.

Rockpaw padded out of the den, disappointed. He went over to the fresh-kill pile and took the fish Flamewing had caught. Rockpaw munched on it as Ashpelt pelted over.

"Hey, Rockpaw," he meowed cheerfully. "Do you want to go hunting? Better yet, I'm going to ask Silverheart if we could go on a patrol with Leafstorm, Saturn, and Sandclaw!" Rockpaw grunted, not caring. Then Ashpelt mewed, " Hey, you are usually aching to go on that patrol. What's wrong?" Rockpaw turned away from Ashpelt. Ashpelt touched Rockpaw's shoulder with the tip of his tail and whispered, "Come on, you can tell me." He sat down in front of Rockpaw and poked him with his paw and repeated, "What's wrong, Rockpaw?"

"LEAVE ME ALONE!" Hoping no one was in there, Rockpaw bolted into the apprentice's den, leaving the half eaten fish next to a surprised and confused Ashpelt.

"I, Icestar, leader of NightClan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on this apprentice. He has trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code, and we commend him to you as a warrior in turn. Rockpaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend this Clan even at the cost of your own life?" Icestar meowed seriously, his eyes blazing.

"I do." Rockpaw whispered sadly, looked down at his paws.

"Then by the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior name, Rockpaw, this moment on you will be known as Rockfrost. StarClan honors you for your loyalty and intelligence and we welcome you as a full warrior in NightClan." Icestar finished. Icestar touched his muzzle against Rockfrost's and he licked him in return as the new warrior thought, _Flamewing can you hear me? I'm Rockfrost now_.

That night, Rockfrost stood guard. The cool breeze drifted through his fur, making Rockpaw's back feel cool. Suddenly, he heard a rustling in the bushes.

_Should I raise the alarm?_

He approached carefully, scenting cats and a little fox. Suddenly a large cat flew out and clawed Rockfrost. A golden she-cat had scratched him on his left ear and blood was pouring from it. Rockfrost hissed and heard paw steps behind him. Another strong blow hit the warrior on his right flank.

Rockfrost spun around and attacked the intruder. They bowled around and he realized he was battling a young, ugly fox. That made Rockfrost bite and claw harder than ever.

Rockfrost glanced around the clearing and saw pairs of eyes poking out of the bushes. Suddenly, he understood what was happening.

"AMBUSH!" Rockfrost yowled as he kicked the fox. "CLOUDCLAN IS ATTACKING! AGAIN!" Soon Rockfrost had Leafstorm by his side helping him fend off the fox. She gave it a good bite in the throat and it dashed into the bushes, panting.

The golden cat had disappeared.

Rockfrost looked around and saw that NightClan were driving CloudClan away. _Good thing that NightClan cats have good night vision,_ he thought.

Flamewing ran after the black kit and urging the others by calling, "Come on guys! We are almost there!" She paused and murmured, "If she knows where she's going." Suddenly, Flamewing saw the exit from the forest and into the TwoLeg world.

TwoLegs were bustling around, and the monsters were belching out TwoLegs by the second. Thunderpaths were everywhere, and TwoLeg nests towered over the six cats.

Flamewing gasped at the sight and Tinypaw looked like he was going to faint. Brightstorm and Darkblaze were looking at eachother, Thornfrost was dumbstruck, and Lily looked like this was all normal.

"What?" She meowed. "It's not that bad. Let's go." She padded into the opening, and Thornfrost was sure that she was going to get spotted. But, she ran passed the TwoLegs' legs and crossed one of the Thunderpaths and nodded her head to us to follow. Flamewing zig zagged around, hoping everyone was following and made it to the other side of the Thunderpath.

Lily ran to a open space in the Thunderpath were no monsters were darting around, but bigger ones were standing. "Don't worry! They won't bother you!" Flamewing heard Lily call over her shoulder.

She noticed that fences were around us.

Slowly, Flamewing, Thornfrost, Tinypaw and Brightstorm followed Lily across the clearing cautiously. Darkblaze trailed behind. Suddenly one of the monsters started to growl. Flamewing heard Thornfrost yowl, "Run into a TwoLeg nest! There's nowhere else to go!" With a twitch of her ears, Flamewing bolted after Thornfrost.

Flamewing followed Thornfrost into a nest where it was warm and cozy. Thornfrost's muscles relaxed as he mewed,"We'll stay in here until those monsters are finished with wha-" Thornfrost stopped in mid-sentence, looking behind me. "Umm... Flamewing?" He whispered. "Behind you!"

Flamewing whipped around only to be picked up by a TwoLeg kit and stoked by its naked hairless paws. "Let go of me!" Flamewing yowled. She hissed at it and the TwoLeg dropped her back on the ground. Flamewing yowled to Darkblaze, Tinypaw and Brightstorm, on the other side of the nest to get themselves out. They bolted for the exit, and Thornfrost and Flamewing quickly ran after them. The monsters were still working but the Clan cats didn't care. Flamewing hissed at them, but they took no notice of her.

Thornfrost heard a TwoLeg yowl. Suddenly, a large TwoLeg, holding some kind of tube and wearing a mask stepped out in front of the cats, blocking their path to the exit. The monsters suddenly stopped as the TwoLeg held up it's paw.

Then, it pushed a button on it's tube.


	10. Chapter 9

Chapter 9:

"Rockfrost," The now Rockfrost mumbled, trying out the name. "I like that warrior name." Ashpelt called, "It was a 'yes' for the patrol!"

"Do we need to go?" Rockfrost groaned as he stretched his legs. "I just want to sleep! I just spent the whole night awake during the silent vigil. Wait... It _was _a silent vigil until the ambush happened. Mouse-brained CloudClan." Ashpelt blinked and didn't say anything. He flicked his tail toward the forest and dashed into it. Rockfrost sighed and bolted after him.

By the time Rockfrost caught up with him he had already killed a mouse. He purred and saw a rabbit nearby. Suddenly, Rockfrost pounced on it, but missed. Ashpelt let out a _mmmrreeooww _of laughter and meowed, "Why did Icestar make you a warrior? You can't even catch a little bunny!" Rockfrost purred and pounced on him instead of the rabbit. He hissed in surprise. Then they play-fighted like little kits and lost the rabbit in the bushes.

"So what did you do while you were gone?" Rockfrost asked, giggling.

"Icestar sent me to spy on CloudClan," Ashpelt explained, licking himself. "Apparently, they are also losing cats, just like Flamewing." Rockfrost drew back suddenly from him, surprised.

"How do you know?"

"Well, while you were sleeping, I went to Icestar and asked what the matter was. He told me about Flamewing and that she was gone. Then, I told him about the missing cat in CloudClan. His name was..." Ashpelt stared into space, straining his face like he had just eaten crowfood. "I think it started with Thorn... Thorn-something... Well, anyway, I talked to Icestar and he told me the problem with you." Ashpelt finished.

"Well you learned a lot from the last few days!" Rockfrost joked. Ashpelt jumped on him and they ran around until to sun dipped below the horizon.

After Ashpelt and Rockfrost calmed down, they went back to camp and then joined the patrol with Leafstorm, Saturn and Sandclaw.

Rockfrost went over the GrassClan's border and sniffed around for any cats. A CloudClan scent hit the roof of Rockfrost's mouth and it startled him.

It was fresh.

_There must be a CloudClan warrior around here somewhere... _Rockfrost thought. _But where? _As he looked up, a golden blur sped past his brown muzzle. Rockfrost jumped back in surprise as a golden she-cat appeared in front of him, snarling.

Brightstorm watched the TwoLeg spray green fog all around her. Tinypaw's little stubs of legs were shaking madly, like he was chasing a mouse in the forest. Thornfrost and Flamewing were hissing and spitting blindly, back to back.

Suddenly, Brightstorm heard snoring next to her. Darkblaze! Brightstorm quickly looked back at Thornfrost and Flamewing. They were sleeping too. Tinypaw had collapsed after them. Blinded by rage, Brightstorm flew at the TwoLeg, but it caught her by the scruff. Brightstorm clawed at its muzzle in fury, making it lose its grip. She dropped to the ground and hissed. But Brightstorm felt dizzy the next second. The TwoLeg stood a mouse-length away from her and Brightstorm saw it shove the sleeping cats into different little spaces.

Brightstorm's vision blurred. Her legs collapsed and she was also shoved into a little space. As Brightstorm heard the TwoLegs shouting at another, she slowly fell asleep.


	11. Chapter 10

Chapter 10:

"Let's begin!" Icestar yowled. The four pine trees at Fourtrees were covered with a light snow, almost as thick as a kitten's paw. " I would like to speak my news first." Beestar meowed quickly. "We are missing a young warrior," He yowled uneasily. "His name is Darkblaze." There were whispers throughout the Clans.

"We also have news like this. But we are missing a warrior and an apprentice." Lightstar meowed loudly. The clearing slowly grew quiet. The eerie silence drifted on the breeze, chilling Treefoot's skin. He swiped a paw across his face as Beestar shuffled his paws together. Lightstar flicked some snow off Highrock and mewed, "Weedstar, do you have any missing warriors?"

"None that are important." He grunted. Treefoot was surprised. Thornfrost was a very skilled warrior and a good hunter. He brought kits scraps of his dinner sometimes and always agreed to help.

"Anyway, some of our kits are ready to be apprenticed," Weedstar went on.

"Pinkflight and Blackcloud are ready to kit soon," Icestar added. "Rainfur says that they will be ready in about half a moon."

The clearing was silent for a minute. Treefoot sniffed the air nervously. Why was it so quiet all of a sudden?

"We have only one missing warrior," Icestar mewed. "She went missing less than a quarter-moon ago."

_Why does Fourtrees suddenly feel unsafe?_

Suddenly, a cat started to yowl. Treefoot turned immediately to look where the yowl had come from. "Help!" Treefoot recognized the NightClan warrior, Nightsong, with her blue pelt. "Help!" She cried again. She bolted up to the leaders and yowled, "Dogs are attacking the clearing! There are many and they are hiding in the bushes over there! We should leave now before anyone gets hurt," Her shrill voice had calmed slightly but her eyes were still wild and crazed.

Icestar stepped up. "We should move before the dogs attack. But," He paused, searching for the words. "We will need two strong warriors to lead them off. Perhaps they haven't found us yet."

"Treefoot?" Weedstar looked at him and Treefoot felt eyes burning into his fur from all sides.

"I'll do it," He replied, dipping his head. Beestar searched the clearing carefully then suddenly mewed, "Waternose," A sleek golden she-cat with a silver muzzle slipped out of the crowd and advanced towards the leaders. Treefoot did the same.

"So, what do we need to do?" Waternose asked.

"First," Lightstar mewed. "You will try to catch some prey. Then you could lead a trail of them away towards the-"

"TwoLegPlace." Beestar interrupted, hissing. "I bet _they_ can deal with them."

"If they don't fall for it, come back here and we will send more warriors will you to help chase them away. Or you could hide in a tree or something near the prey-trail and then chase them away." Lightstar finished slowly.

"It's not a good plan," Weedstar sighed. "But it'll do."

Treefoot had caught six rabbits so far. He had watched Waternose to see how she was doing and she had only four fish. Once she had caught a final fish, Treefoot meowed quietly, "Let's go! We'll start close to Fourtrees." Waternose scooped up her fish in her jaws, which were small, then joined Treefoot.

When they got to Fourtrees, Waternose dropped her kill then mewed, "Before we start, let's eat something so we have enough strength. If you are like me, you're starving." Treefoot nodded in agreement as he dropped his prey as well.

Treefoot chose the smallest rabbit of the pile, thinking that the dogs wouldn't want to eat the smallest piece of prey. Waternose, seeing what Treefoot was doing, picked out a small fish too. Treefoot was very hungry, but he had to force down the rabbit. For once, they seemed unappetizing. Treefoot quickly finished his meal, washed his fur flat, then stood up. Waternose looked up at him and sneezed quietly. Treefoot cocked his head then mewed, "Come on, we don't have all night." He might it kindly, but Waternose snorted. "I know!" She hissed. "I'm nervous too," Her eyes softened slightly. Silently, she slipped into the shadows with her catch in her mouth.

Treefoot walked after her, as quiet as possible. His rabbits dangled from his mouth and he jumped whenever a tree branch snapped. Treefoot picked up his pace slightly and soon he found Waternose laying out the fish.

Waternose looked up and nodded at him. " I can scent the dogs near here," She mewed.

Treefoot got behind her walked a few fox lengths away so the prey was spaced out slightly. Rabbit after rabbit, fish after fish, the trail was slowly finishing. Once the last fish was laid down, Treefoot sighed. Waternose padded up to him with a rabbit in her mouth. "I'm going to go back where Nightsong first saw the dogs and I'll run with this then lead them here,"

"I'll come with you, because I'm a fast runner. I can start them off, then you can finish it." Waternose nodded and followed Treefoot back to the spot.

There was a slight hole in the bushes and Treefoot looked at it curiously. He nosed his way through then mewed, "There's a giant hole here! It looks like it can hold about three large dogs in here."

"Let me see," Waternose pressed her way through the bush. The bush was not very small; it was hiding the hole well. Waternose looked up at Treefoot. "Let's start running here. Here," Waternose gave him the rabbit. "Take that and walk inside the hole. Let the stench waft around a bit, then run with the prey if you sense movement." Treefoot nodded uncertainly but slowly padded through the bush.

Treefoot thought he saw a dog.

He looked around the hole carefully then padded forward.

The hole was taller than two large cats stacked on top of each other. It was long and wide and looked like the dog or whatever was living there… had dug out the cave-like hole.

Treefoot dragged the rabbit around in the dirt, letting the stench float in the air. Then he sat for a minute, his muscles aching from hunting.

Suddenly, he heard a low growl. Treefoot jumped up and hissed as he saw six pairs of eyes poke out of the darkness. He whispered, "Waternose!"

"Yes," She mewed.

"I got some company," Treefoot whispered back as he grabbed the rabbit in his teeth.

The six dogs growled as Waternose spoke. The biggest one, which was male, swiped at Treefoot. He gave a surprised grunt but missed the dog's claws. Treefoot started to back out of the cave, with the dogs behind him.

Treefoot slowly turned around and the dogs growled to each other. He slightly understood what they were saying: "_Get him!"_

Treefoot bolted out of the hole. He whizzed past Waternose's muzzle and she yelped in surprise. "Go, go!" Treefoot hissed behind his back. Waternose followed him, but tripped over her paws.

Treefoot nudged her to her paws, then swiped at the dog that tried to bite her hind leg. Waternose jumped up, with a crazed look in her eyes, teared the rabbit from Treefoot's jaws and ran. "Waternose!" Treefoot shrieked.

The dogs, smelling her fear, ran after her. While doing so, they crashed into Treefoot leaving him stunned. He shook his head, scattering drops of blood.

He bolted after Waternose, not caring about what the dogs were doing. Soon, he caught up to the dogs and leaped on top of the closest one. It snarled, obviously annoyed by Treefoot, and bucked hard. It sent Treefoot flew through the air and the tom suddenly remembered something important.

_I'm in CloudClan!_

He spread out his paws in the air and glided toward Waternose. He saw her golden fur and he turned slightly to the left.

"Waternose!" He yowled. Waternose didn't seem to hear him. Treefoot closed his paws and twisted in the air to right himself. He landed next to Waternose then started to run. "What are you doing?! The TwoLegPlace is back there!"

"Then we'll need to turn around," Waternose hissed through the rabbit's fur. Treefoot nodded as Waternose handed over the rabbit. Treefoot picked up his pace and veered off to the right, slowly making their way around.

Soon, their route grew thicker; all the roots and trees made Treefoot stumble. The dogs slowly grew uninterested in the two fleeing cats, but they still followed. _I can tell they are hungry. _Treefoot thought. _Soon, they'll be full and gone. _

The two cats made it into the clearing with the prey. Treefoot dropped half of the rabbit, panting. The dogs were falling behind, but they were still on their tails. "Quick!" Waternose quickly whispered. "In there!" She pointed with her tail towards a old hollowed out tree; it had toadstools that would disguise their scent. It could fit them both, since Waternose was small. Treefoot dived in, then Waternose followed.

The dogs burst into the clearing, howling. Treefoot finally got a good look at them; they were big and black with huge tails that swept the ground. Their large muzzles were an ugly grayish color. The muscles in their body rippled with strength as they sniffed.

They sniffed the ground, looking for the cats that had escaped them, but found nothing. Treefoot sucked in his breath quietly but Waternose choked him with her tail.

The dogs had now split up into different groups of two. One group had wandered off, but stayed in the clearing. Another group checked dangerously close to the tree. The last group found the prey-trail and barked to the others. They immediately saw the prey and dashed towards it.

The first dog had scooped up the first piece of prey and licked its lips. The other dogs panted, their pink tongues hanging out, and followed the prey-trail, while eating.

After the dogs had wandered off a fair distance away, Waternose yowled, "Let me up! Stupid CloudClan furball!" Treefoot had wrapped his paws around Waternose so she couldn't move. His muzzle was right next to hers.

"I kind of like this position," He mewed, drunken with purrs. Treefoot moved in closer to Waternose and pressed his muzzle against her's. "Let's stay here for awhile." He purred again. He moved in even closer to Waternose then licked her on her chin.

"Fine, furball."

The two lay there for awhile, licking and purring and touching noses. After a while the moon was very low and it was beginning to become bright.

"Let's go now." Waternose mewed.

"I don't want to leave," Treefoot grunted. "I want to always be with you. No matter what."

"What if I die?"

"Then I'll die with you," Treefoot lifted his head up slightly, then swayed like he was drunk. "I won't be able to live without you..." Treefoot licked Waternose's underbelly and before Waternose could fully understand what he meant, Treefoot meowed, " I want kits. Lots of them! Maybe nine or.. or even ten!" His ears pricked up with excitement. Treefoot licked Waternose's forehead, over and over and over, then her chin, over and over again. "Okay." Waternose mewed, purring. "I also want you forever." She licked his chin.

She slowly brushed her tail tip on Treefoot's shoulder, a rare showing of love. "Okay, you bee-brain," She purred. Twining tails again, the two friends padded back to the Gathering, softly purring secrets to each other.

When the two cats returned to the Gathering, Treefoot had never felt so pressured.

"Are they gone?"

"Is it safe?"

"Were they evil?"

"They are gone," Treefoot announced. "And we are happy to say the Gathering is safe." Grateful cheers rose from the Clans as Icestar padded up to Treefoot and Waternose. "Thank you, both of you," he mewed respectfully as he dipped his head. "May StarClan always light your paths."

Flamewing woke up to yowling, meowing and loud clunking noises. She stirred and groaned as she sat up. The first thing she saw were the bars close to her muzzle.

"Oh no," Flamewing whispered, remembering Saturn's words about the TwoLegPlace.

If his words were right that would mean she would be in an animal shelter.

Flamewing barely had room to lay down in her cage. Flamewing stood up but suddenly was pushed back as her head bumped the roof of the cage. She cried out with pain and Thornfrost heard her.

Flamewing had a bowl of drinking water and the small pellets that Saturn told her about. "Flamewing?" She heard Thornfrost call. "Where are you?"

"Over here!" Flamewing called out, still surprised and hurt. "Have you seen anyone else, Thornfrost?"

"No," came his voice. "I have not." Flamewing peeked through the bars of the cage and saw Thornfrost looking into her cage. Flamewing looked over and she found Tinypaw.

His leg was stuck in the bars and it was bleeding harshly. " Hey, is that... Tinypaw?" Tinypaw looked up, surprised. He meowed to Flamewing sheepishly, "I thought I could slip through the bars. But I can't. Well," He meowed as his leg slipped father out of the cage. "Maybe I can!" He meowed excitedly as his chest slipped out. Suddenly, his whole body came out of the small cage. He fell to the ground, limping a little bit because of his leg.

Flamewing called out to him, "Tinypaw, can you open this thing for me then I could help you get the others?" He nodded then padded up to Flamewing and pulled at something with his sharp fangs. The bars gave in, and Flamewing pushed out of the box. "Those TwoLegs were so mouse-brained," She mewed as Flamewing freed Thornfrost. "To put you in a big cage!" Tinypaw looked at her and mewed. "A cage?"

"That thing that you were stuck in." Flamewing answered. Tinypaw nodded as he pulled at Darkpaw's cage wires. When Brightstorm was finally out of her cage, the Clan cats looked around for Lily. They didn't see her anywhere. "Wait! Did Lily get caught?" Darkblaze asked.

"No," Brightstorm meowed. "She ran away... Just like a kittypet." Thornfrost flinched as Brightstorm finished.

Then they looked around for a exit.

Flamewing's eyes caught the shine of the sun in a corner of the room. "There!" She mewed. Flamewing swiftly climbed across the cages and when she got to the top, Flamewing almost fell off. Then, she motioned for everyone to follow. Flamewing poked her head through the hole then jumped out of the shelter and into the pouring rain.


	12. Chapter 11

Chapter 11:

_Thornfrost looked around_, the rain pushing against his thin pelt. It felt like it came down on them every pawstep the cats took. Thornfrost saw a small TwoLeg nest next to a Thunderpath that was deserted. "Come guys," Thornfrost mewed. "Let's rest over there." Slowly, Thornfrost padded over to the overhanging roof and sat as he watched Flamewing support one side of Tinypaw and Brightstorm the other.

Darkblaze was following behind them, looking out for Lily. When they reached the roof Thornfrost suddenly heard a wailing sound from behind them. Darkblaze turned around to only be bowled over by Lily. Thornfrost was surprised that Lily could knock over Darkblaze, strong and sturdy.

"Lily!" Darkblaze cried. "We thought you ran away."

"Well, I didn't." Lily mewed. The rain had soaked through her thin pelt. She shivered and Thornfrost noticed.

"Come sit down," He told her. Lily shivered again then slowly padded over next to Thornfrost. Flamewing did the same and then started to wash her pelt. Lily thanked her with a nod then relaxed. Tinypaw still sat in the rain, washing his wound. When the blood stopped welling out, he tried to stand. He stumbled and Brightstorm caught him. She helped Tinypaw walk over where the rain wasn't so hard. After a long silence, Flamewing stood up and meowed, " We should get moving before the rain stops, so the TwoLegs don't come out." The six all nodded and stood up, one by one. With Brightstorm and Tinypaw in the front and Darkblaze and Lily in the back, they filed off in single file. They padded towards the forest and found a cluster of trees close to the Clans' borders.

The forest cats, and Lily, decided to go around the territories so we wouldn't get caught by anyone. They slipped into an opening in the bushes and continued.

The rain stopped a little after moonrise and Tinypaw soon grew tired. He couldn't keep going because of his wounded leg. Darkblaze offered to find some cobwebs. "They are always easy to find... Even in unknown territories," he mewed proudly. Flamewing asked why he hadn't become a medicine cat. "I wasn't really a medicine cat, I learned a little from my littermate." Tinypaw nodded and Darkblaze sped off into the trees. Thornfrost sat and washed himself slowly. The rain drizzled down and Thornfrost heard a growl of thunder. " We need to find shelter soon." Flamewing meowed thoughtfully.

" But we need to wait for Darkblaze though," Brightstorm objected.

" The rain would wash away our paw marks and scent." Tinypaw nodded. "I can't walk anyway," Tinypaw meowed quickly. " And Lily must be tired- from walking all that way, I mean." He added as Thornfrost and Brightstorm looked at him. Lily let out a _mmmrrrreeeoooowwww _ of laughter. "Tired?" She meowed "I'm not tired! Tinypaw _you_ must be tired if you're saying _I'm _tired,"

At that very moment, Flamewing saw Darkblaze padding over to the five with a rabbit and cobwebs dangling from his mouth.

Thornfrost licked his lips but told himself that Tinypaw, Brightstorm and Flamewing would eat first. Darkblaze dropped the rabbit and dipped his head towards Tinypaw. "Thanks," Tinypaw mumbled as he wrapped the cobwebs around his leg wound. Flamewing advanced towards the rabbit and pulled off one of its hind leg. Then, she padded over to Thornfrost and sat. She pushed half of the rabbit to him with her muzzle. The tabby nodded his thanks and bent down to eat the rabbit.

As Thornfrost's stomach slowly filled, Flamewing bent down and ate with him. Slowly, he tilted his head to look at her. She did the same.

Her ginger and golden tail sparkled in the moonlight as it brushed against Thornfrost's face. She blinked. Thornfrost licked his lips, sat up and looked up at Silverpelt and thanked StarClan for the meal.

Darkblaze, Tinypaw and Brightstorm were asleep. Thornfrost snuggled deep into Flamewing's fur and breathed in her scent. Flamewing purred softly as he took a slow deep breath.

"Do you want any berries?" Thornfrost asked her. She nodded. The small tabby stood up and padded over to the bush with the soft red berries on it. They were sweet and they seemed to calm down his nerves.

Thornfrost picked a few berries and rolled them towards Flamewing. She scooped them up, one at a time. He picked a few for himself, but his stomach could barely hold them down because of what Thornfrost was about to do.

Thornfrost came back and sat down again. They sat in silence as Thornfrost washed himself slowly and carefully. He cleared my throat. Suddenly, a soft growl came from the sleeping clump of cats.

"Flamewing?" Thornfrost meowed as he looked at her.

"Yes, Thornfrost?" She purred. Thornfrost gulped, suddenly lost for words.

"Isn't it a beautiful night?" He stuttered to her. She looked up at Silverpelt and the moonlight reflected her eyes making her more beautiful. Thornfrost looked at her, his eyes glued onto her.

He couldn't stop; and he didn't want to stop.

Thornfrost looked at the sky again then back to Flamewing. She had shifted her gaze onto the tom and she purred a little bit. Thornfrost took a slow breath. This was the night he was waiting for. Thornfrost shifted on his haunches.

A cool night.

A beautiful night.

A silent night.

When she looked into his eyes Thornfrost spoke to her.

"I love a beautiful she-cat," Thornfrost meowed dreamily to her. "And I chose her to be my mate." Thornfrost longingly lick Flamewing below her chin, purred drunkenly. "But this cat must also choose me."

"She has already chosen," Flamewing meowed. Thornfrost stood and Flamewing did the same. Flamewing was so close to him that Thornfrost could smell her breath. Thornfrost spun behind her and mewed softly, "Will you be my mate?" He meowed slowly as he licked the tip of Flamewing's tail.

"Oh, Thornfrost," She meowed, slightly surprised. "I don't know... how will it work? We'd still be in different Clans after this quest..." She trailed off and looked away.

"We could run away together once the quest is finished." Thornfrost mewed calmly, adding a touch of love into his tone.

"I will be your mate," Flamewing meowed quietly. She looked at Thornfrost. He purred with relief.

Suddenly, she pounced on Thornfrost and they both tumbled down a small hill. The small tom landed on top of her and pinned her down. She let her body go limp, but she lifted her head to look at Thornfrost. Her eyes still had the same twinkle in them when they met at the border. Thornfrost rubbed his tail all around Flamewing's thin body.

Flamewing's breath still smelled of the berries he gave her. Thornfrost loved her and he knew that she loved her too. Then, shyly, Thornfrost leaned towards her and licked her. She pressed her muzzle against his as a symbol of love. Thornfrost closed his eyes and let himself purr. He heard Flamewing purr too. Suddenly, Thornfrost heard Tinypaw meow in his sleep. His eyes shot open and leaped off Flamewing. She stood up quickly. Thornfrost glanced at the sleeping cats and whispered, "No one can know. " Flamewing nodded as the two climbed up the hill again.

Thornfrost stood guard that night with Flamewing curled up next to him.

Before the small tom went to sleep that night, Thornfrost heard three words from Flamewing.

"I love you."


	13. Chapter 12

Chapter 12:

"I never liked your mother and father," the she-cat hissed. They were weak and careless."

"That is not true," Rockfrost snarled back. " My mother cared for me and loved me. She did the same for Flamewing." The golden cat rolled her eyes.

The she-cat, who he found on the patrol, was trespassing into NightClan's territory. She was a golden orange color and smelled like CloudClan.

"What about your mouse-brained father?" She spat. " He dived into the raging river to save your littermate, who was going to drown anyway!"

This reminded Rockfrost of his littermate, Applekit, painfully. They would have been made warriors together, but he drowned with Bristlefur at his heels.

The she-cat paused then continued. "I think that was unwise... going into a river without knowing how to swim!"

"I think you would done the same to save your own kin," Rockfrost harshly retorted. "My father died trying to save another from death. Now," He meowed looking up, "he joins StarClan." The she-cat seemed unimpressed.

"What about Flamewing?" The cat asked curtly. " She's _your _sister. Same blood from a foolish stick of a mother. And she's gone?" The she-cat scoffed. "She is so weak, I hear the crows coming now to feast on her flesh and bones! And you," She hissed and lowered her ears. "You have some of their blood coursing through your veins. You're one of them!" Rockfrost angrily unsheathed his claws and sunk them into the soft earth. "What is your name?" Rockfrost spat. The stranger scoffed. " Goldenblaze. I'd like to hear yours. Like it could be worse," He didn't answer.

"Goldenblaze, Flamewing and I are not weak. We are strong and brave warriors and we care for other cats- unlike some," Rockfrost shot a look at her, locking eyes. He flexed his claws and hissed at Goldenblaze. She showed her fangs and snarled,

"Prove it! Prove that you and your family are strong. Take my life and prove it!"

"No!" He growled back. " I will leave you broken and scattered here until you starve. If somebody finds you, you will be thin and under-fed." Goldenblaze glanced at Rockfrost as every muscle in his body rippled. Goldenblaze flinched at this statement but then flew at Rockfrost, claws raised, ready to attack.

Rockfrost dodged her claws then spun around and slashed Goldenblaze's left flank.

She kicked him in the gut, knocking the breath out of his lungs, but soon recovered and dug his sharp claws into her hind leg. Greasy scarlet blood dripped from the vein he had clawed.

Goldenblaze flinched. Rockfrost jumped on her back as she hesitated and dug his claws into her back. He felt his claws rake her ribs as she howled in pain. She threw Rockfrost off and he fell on the ground. She quickly bit his left ear, the same ear that had gotten injured from the ambush from CloudClan.

Rockfrost rolled over then jumped up again and bit into her hind leg, deep enough so she couldn't walk. She fell to the ground, tripped over a rock and landed on her side.

Rockfrost softly panted. " I kept my promise, didn't I Goldenblaze?"

With that, he stalked away to find Ashpelt and tell him what had happened, with his chin up and tail held high.

When Rockfrost found Ashpelt he was scenting over Snakerocks. Rockfrost called out to him, "Ashpelt! We need to go back to camp now," He had not looked up. "Why?" He asked calmly.

"Can we just go?"

"Well we need to find the others first," Ashpelt meowed. "Then we can go... Wait," Ashpelt looked at Rockfrost's ear and bloody claws. "What happened?" Ashpelt asked shrilly.

"Did you get attacked? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine,"

"You sure?"

"Yeah," Rockfrost meowed calmly. His claws hurt because they were unsheathed and they itched to be sheathed but they had to be cleaned. He looked over his shoulder and saw a river nearby.

Rockfrost slowly padded over and washed his paws. Rockfrost sighed as he watched the blood flow down the river. _I didn't need to do this, _Rockfrost thought. _But she had threatened me. _

Rockfrost looked back at Ashpelt and he had a rabbit in his mouth. _He must have saw the rabbit and caught it to bring back to Icestar,_ he thought. Ashpelt motioned to Rockfrost to follow him to find the others at SunningRocks.

When Ashpelt and Rockfrost got to SunningRocks, they found Leafstorm with a rabbit, Sandclaw with a mouse and Saturn with a large finch. Ashpelt looked at them, nodded at Rockfrost and headed back to camp.


	14. Chapter 13

Chapter 13:

"A TwoLeg nest, Thornfrost?" Darkblaze hissed into his ear. Thornfrost tensed suddenly and turned away to look at the slowly passing trees. "Lucky for Tinypaw he's so small. We could have been trapped in that place for moons!"

"Well, we're safe now, and we could have left you there for a moon!" Thornfrost retorted. Darkblaze snorted as the kittypet felt his lip curl in anger. "What would you have done?" Thornfrost spat, his tail lashing side to side. "Those Tree-eaters would have crushed us if I didn't do anything!" Darkblaze flinched at the thought of being crushed by Tree-eaters. He thought for a moment then replied dryly, "We could have jumped over the fences!"

"Well we didn't."

"_Kittypet,_" Thornfrost heard Darkblaze murmur.

He froze. "You scared, _kittypet_?" Darkblaze challenged louder. "You could run away right now to avoid being clawed to bits." Thornfrost's fur bristled.

_How dare Darkblaze insult me! _He thought, angrier than ever.

"Why didn't you jump? The fences weren't the problem! Anyway, I didn't want to get my fur pulled out by the wire!" There was no reply. Thornfrost whipped his head around.

He saw Darkblaze, who had his claws unsheathed and was gingerly looking at them. Then, he padded over to a large gray rock and ran his claws down it. It made a horrible squeaking noise and Thornfrost slightly flinched. Darkblaze did again and again until his claws were sharp.

Then, Darkblaze flipped himself over, showing his fluffy brown belly fur, and meowed, "Attack me." On command, Thornfrost found myself aim at Darkblaze's underbelly. But they never hit their target. Thornfrost felt a sharp claw rake over his muzzle as blood poured from it.

The small tabby tom staggered, then fell.

"See, you were never cut out for this life," Darkblaze meowed calmly. "Kittypets were never made for this life. They're overfed and lazy. That's no way to live a good life."

"That is not true," Thornfrost snarled, standing up slowly, wiping his paw over his wound. "Kittypets are equal to all other cats. I'm not scared. Your threat doesn't scare me." But Darkblaze's comment reminded him of the soft kittypet life.

The warm fire, the cozy bed and the warm hands of the owner. Thornfrost felt a sharp pang of sadness and guilt. His TwoLeg died of greencough and Thornfrost only choice was to find the Clan cats or he was left with nothing.

"But, I've given that up," Thornfrost thought aloud. Darkblaze let out a _mmrrrreeeoooowwww _of amusement. " You accept the challenge then?" Darkblaze mewed, the amusement still shining brightly in his eyes. "Yes, I do," Thornfrost snarled. He unsheathed his claws, ready for anything.

Thornfrost started by nipping Darkblaze on the left ear. Darkblaze turned around and kicked him up with his hind paws. Thornfrost thought that was a good idea for him; Darkblaze had very powerful hind legs.

Thornfrost was flung into the air as Darkblaze kicked him. As he soared, Darkblaze jumped up and ripped at his flesh. Thornfrost's eyes filled with terror, as Darkblaze and he fell. Thornfrost's bones crunched as they landed; Darkblaze had landed on all fours. Thornfrost slipped over his own paws and fell onto the damp ground again. Blood welled out onto the ground next to him as it soaked into Thornfrost's belly fur.

Thornfrost lashed out at Darkblaze's muzzle and flipped him on his back with needle sharp fangs. Darkblaze pushed Thornfrost off of him and pinned the tabby to the ground. "This battle is far from over, kittypet!" He snarled.

Darkblaze was dragged off of Thornfrost by Flamewing. Thornfrost thanked StarClan. Silently, Flamewing clawed at Darkblaze's and Thornfrost's muzzle. They both yipped, surprised.

Flamewing glared at the fighting toms. Her eyes were filled with anger as she meowed, "Darkblaze! Thornfrost!"

"Yes?" The toms glanced at each other, angry.

"Stop fighting all the time," Flamewing mewed crossly.

"But Darkblaze, he-" Thornfrost started to say. Flamewing shot him a look and he fell silent.

"Be quiet, Thornfrost!" Flamewing snapped. "Stop being such a mouse brain... Both of you. We're not here to fight each other. We are here to find dawn and save the Clans. We're not there, not yet at least. Start moving! We already set up a small camp."

Thornfrost slipped and the blood roared in Thornfrost' ears as he struggled to stand again.

Looking at the ground, Darkblaze and the small tabby tom walked along with Flamewing behind, who was growling softly.

Once the party stopped so Flamewing could catch a mouse.

Thornfrost noted that her hunter's crouch was a little different the others. Then, he realized something that he hadn't noticed before...

After trudging on for two and a half sunrises, Tinypaw had found the one thing the cats needed the most. Water!

The tired and hungry cats stared at the large pool of it. Flamewing licked her dry lips as her front pad bled harshly. Tinypaw tried as much as he could to treat it; Thornfrost had offered to licked Flamewing's wound but, Tinypaw said that it could heal without him licking it. A light rain fell from the sky and Flamewing suddenly wanted to go swimming. Flamewing slowly padded toward the water and stepped in.

The lake wasn't very deep, so Tinypaw and Lily could stand in water felt cold on her hot back, just like the frozen river that Flamewing had drank from when she was a kit.

Flamewing's legs worked calmly in the water as the mud from her pelt drifted away.

She sensed Darkblaze next to her, gently paddling his strong hind legs. His muzzle still had claw marks from Thornfrost, but thanks to Tinypaw, they were healing nicely.

_Maybe it wasn't a bad idea to bring Tinypaw along with us._ Flamewing thought. _Lily has also been a great helper, showing us the berries we should eat. Her TwoLeg must be worried! _

As Flamewing swam, Thornfrost called out, "Flamewing! How did you do that? You're not from LakeClan, Darkblaze is," The she-cat looked over at Thornfrost then started to swim back to shore.

Flamewing pulled herself out and padded over to a patch of sun to dry off. Thornfrost came over to her."To answer your question Thornfrost, I don't know," Flamewing meowed. "All I know is that my mother is from CloudClan and she ran away to NightClan."

"Wait," Thornfrost cut in. " Your mother is from CloudClan? Spread out your paws for a minute." She do so. Thornfrost's eyes widened. " What?" Flamewing demanded. She followed his gaze and saw that she had a thin layer of skin connected from her shoulder to her ankle. _How could I never have seen that before?_ Flamewing thought.

"Follow me," Thornfrost meowed urgently. He dashed into the bushes.

Flamewing followed Thornfrost's bobbing tail until they came into a small clearing with two large sized rocks standing about three fox lengths away from each other. "Step up on one," Thornfrost ordered.

Flamewing scrambled up the nearest rock. "See if you can jump, or glide, over to the other rock." He told her.

Flamewing hoped that he knew what he was doing, and Thornfrost saw her short hesitation. "Like this," Thornfrost meowed calmly.

Then, he too, climbed onto the rock. Thornfrost poised himself then jumped off. He spread out his legs and Flamewing saw that he also had a thin layer of skin. _So that's why I couldn't do the hunter's crouch very well!_ She thought suddenly. Thornfrost landed gently on the farest rock and motioned for me to go. The she-cat prayed to StarClan that Flamewing wouldn't hurt herself or Thornfrost. She leaped off the rock and spread out her paws the way Thornfrost had done.

Soon, Flamewing felt the wind tickling her fur and her lightweight body gliding in thin air. Flamewing landed softly next to Thornfrost and blinked slowly. "Let's get back to the others," Thornfrost meowed quickly. They hurried through the bushes again and came out into the sun. Flamewing saw Darkblaze and Brightstorm sitting in a small patch of sun. When they saw them, Brightstorm meowed, " Tinypaw and Lily have gone hunting. They'll be back soon."

"Good," Flamewing mumbled. She was tired after all the swimming. She sat down next to Thornfrost, who began to wash himself. After a long silence, Tinypaw appeared with two rabbits and a mouse. He dropped one rabbit in front of Darkblaze and the other rabbit next to Brightstorm. "Lily will be back," Tinypaw mewed. "She's getting the rest." Tinypaw sat down and began gnawing on his mouse.

Brightstorm looked at the rabbit and slowly took a bite. Darkblaze had ripped into the rabbit already. Thornfrost's mouth started to water at the sight of fresh-kill. Flamewing suddenly remembered that the six cats hadn't eaten since the beginning of the quest, which was less than a quarter moon ago. This told her mouth to start to water.

As Darkblaze was finishing his rabbit, Lily came back with the same Tinypaw came back with: two rabbits and a mouse. She gave the rabbits to Thornfrost and Flamewing and started to munch on her mouse.

Flamewing tore into the flesh of the prey and ate it quickly. Her stomach slowly filled with rabbit.

Thornfrost was almost finished when Flamewing was first tearing into the rabbit. He licked his lips as he finished the last morsel of prey. Soon the others finished, hunger quenched. Darkblaze stood up and meowed, "What are we waiting for? Let's finish this quest!"


	15. Chapter 14

Chapter 14:

_As they walked_ on, the six soon found the edge of the forest. They found something new: a wide open space. The tall grass swayed in the wind and Thornfrost saw a small rabbit hiding among it. The sun was slowly setting on the horizon and Thornfrost meowed, "Come on, I don't want to sleep in a open space."

"Now _this _is what I'm talking about!" Brightstorm breathed.

"Let's sleep here then travel in the morning," Darkblaze suggested. Flamewing gave him a hard look, then curled up in a small ball. Thornfrost sat next to her and whispered, "We're almost there. I can feel it." Flamewing looked up and quickly licked his muzzle. "I know, Thornfrost. We still need to cross over those mountains over there." Flamewing meowed as she flicked her tail towards them. Thornfrost looked over and saw them. _They're not that bad, _he thought. _But it might take a while to get over there._ Thornfrost lay his head on small paws and folded his tail neatly over them. Thornfrost closed his eyes and waited for sleep to consume his thoughts.

Sadly, sleep means dreams.

The forest lay spread out around Thornfrost's feet. Shadows ran across the ground and he heard the whispers of the trees' secrets. Soon, they were silenced.

Thornfrost looked around in confusion as he heard something new. A roaring sound came from far away. The trees shook and bent over as the animals fled. At first Thornfrost heard the rushing of the water very quietly then it grew louder.

Clan cats bolted past the tabby but he didn't see the Clan leaders. Then Thornfrost saw them: they were close to the rushing water saving a kit from drowning. Thornfrost saw Beestar diving into the water to grasp the kit. But the water seemed to kick him out.

Thornfrost pelted over and tried to save the kit himself. He felt his fangs clench the kit but each time Thornfrost tried, they seemed to slip away.

The kit was impossible to save.

Thornfrost panicked as he tried to swim back to the surface of the water. He choked, swallowing a huge mouthful of salt. He clenched his eyes shut as the water seemed to rise above his head as Thornfrost tried to swim up. When he opened his eyes, Thornfrost was surrounded by bubbles and water.

Thornfrost called out to the Clan leaders to run, but they kept trying to save the kit. His lungs slowly emptied as Thornfrost thrashed around, trying to save himself. The bubbles filled his vision and Thornfrost felt himself lose more strength. The water pushed him around harshly. The huge wave slowly came down on top of the bubble. Thornfrost pushed himself one more time and he broke into the air.

Thornfrost gasped deeply then finally yowled, "RUN!"

Thornfrost awoke next to Flamewing. She was poking him with one of her paws. The taste of salt water still filled his mouth.

"Here, eat this,"Flamewing told the tabby tom. Still woozy, Thornfrost sat up and saw a small pile of fresh-kill next to him. Then, he looked down at my paws and saw a small mouse.

"I'm sorry Flamewing, I could have helped you..." He meowed slowly. Flamewing purred a little as she meowed, " You were talking in your sleep when I woke up. I didn't want to bother any of you. I needed time to think clearly and be alone." Thornfrost bit into the mouse and looked at Flamewing. The salt from his mouth slowly washed away as he ate. The dream still haunted his mind. " I had a dream last night Flamewing... I think it was my salt dream." Flamewing nodded, her eyes shining brightly. "Tell me or we can wait until the others wake up."

"I'll tell you now. Well-" Thornfrost told her a short summary of the bizarre dream. He meowed finally, "And it really felt like I was drowning. The kit that slipped through my fangs... It was like I was a ghost. The salt tasted so real too,"

"It was," Flamewing replied as she pushed her nest of leaves around. "StarClan sends it to us as a sign we are going the right way."

Flamewing cocked her head slightly. " You should tell the others when they wake up," Flamewing added slowly.

"Maybe we should wake them." Thornfrost meowed. Flamewing shook her head. He nodded then went back to a dreamless sleep.

When Thornfrost awoke, everyone was stirring slowly except Tinypaw. Thornfrost sat up and looked at Flamewing. Her eyes were glued on him. Thornfrost thought, _at least Flamewing didn't think my dream was crazy. _Her eyes seemed to say, _tell them._ But, the small cat wasn't sure about telling them yet.

Thornfrost nodded slightly then meowed, "Guys, I had my salt dream... I think," Lily looked puzzled. "Salt dream?" she meowed.

"I'll tell you later," Brightstorm meowed. Lily nodded. Tinypaw stirred a little and sat up.

"Whaaaatt?" He asked, slurring his words.

"My salt dream," Thornfrost meowed slowly to him.

Thornfrost told them about his salt dream, with a little more detail then when he told Flamewing. Then Thornfrost felt himself describing the kit.

"The kit was a snowy white and he had golden paws," Thornfrost meowed, remembering the kit's sparkling gold paws. "Wait, white with golden paws?" Flamewing mewed. Thornfrost nodded. Her eyes grew wide as she meowed, panicked. "That sounds like Snowpaw!" She looked at him. "Do you think he drowned or died?" Darkblaze shook his head before Thornfrost had time to reply. "StarClan must have sent him for snow or a blizzard," he meowed. "Not for death. Death would be blood or red. There was no blood so Snowpaw couldn't have have killed."

Thornfrost looked at him and Flamewing looked at the ground. "Thank StarClan!" She sighed. "Snowpaw should be fine," Darkblaze nodded.

"Well, and that's all I can remember. We should start crossing the field," Thornfrost meowed as he stood up. Tinypaw, Darkblaze and Flamewing did the same. Brightstorm and Lily still sat and Thornfrost heard Brightstorm explaining to Lily about what the salt dreams were. Soon they stood and joined the others in the field.

The grass prickled under Thornfrost's paws. The sun was over the far horizon, the clouds hovering around it behind the mountains. He looked across the flat land and at the mountains. They loomed over him as the party slowly crossed over the vast land. They traveled in silence, stopping once in a while to rest. Soon Tinypaw spoke, "Will we need to cross over the mountains?"

"Yes," Thornfrost meowed. "The sun is behind them and we need to follow the sun to the sun-drown-place." Tinypaw nodded.

Soon, day turned into evening. The mountains didn't seem any closer from where they had started. Thornfrost's pads ached from the journey as they walked slowly towards the horizon. Night slowly came and soon Tinypaw collapsed. His leg was starting to bleed again from the long journey. Darkblaze meowed, "Can you walk?" Tinypaw shook his head hard. Darkblaze bent over and tightly wrapped the cobwebs around his leg again as Tinypaw flinched. Soon, the blood stopped flowing as hard, but Tinypaw still couldn't walk. "We'll stay the night," Flamewing meowed to him.

In the vast open space, Thornfrost felt strange. Thornfrost had always felt safer in the mountains, but now he was not so sure. They threateningly loomed over us and it seemed like the quest was still pulling him towards the mountains, like there was something important in them.

Thornfrost sat up and looked at the mountains. He could barely see the sun set behind the mountains and the mountains set off a warm glow.

Thornfrost padded over to Flamewing to mewed to her, "Should we go hunting for them?"

"No," She meowed back as she brushed her tail against my face. "We ate before we left." Thornfrost nodded. He looked at Darkblaze then turned back to Flamewing. "Why do you think he challenged me?" He asked. Flamewing looked at me. "Maybe it's that we had friends. I have you, Brightstorm has Tinypaw... He doesn't have anyone. Darkblaze doesn't really know us."

Thornfrost looked at Darkblaze again, who was sleeping a fair way away from them. "Give him a chance," Flamewing added. Thornfrost placed his head on her paws. Soon, Thornfrost closed his eyes and fell asleep.

The six were on the move again. It was about sunrise and they needed to reach the mountains before dark. They had walked quicker than they did last night and Tinypaw's leg seemed better. He didn't limp as much but his leg still slowed the party down a little.

Flamewing paws felt prickly as they padded along the field. No one spoke, but Tinypaw broke the silence by mewing, "We're almost there guys. Just a few more steps..."

Thornfrost looked up at the mountains and they were closer than before. The shadow of the mountains shaded them from the leaffall sun and Lily seemed the least energetic because of her thin pelt. As the six padded up to the first rock of the mountain, they heard a rumble of rocks tumbling down the mountain side.

"Let's hope we don't run into a tribe," Darkblaze hissed quietly.


	16. Chapter 15

Chapter 15:

The six cats started to climb the steep mountainside. There was a small path that they walked on to help go faster. Darkblaze's tail dragged against the ground in the effort it took to climb. The jagged rocks cut into his paws and the moon stood over the cats.

The mountain rocks were red with age and there were few trees. There were a few shady spots under overhanging rocks.

"How long is this going to take?" Darkblaze grumbled, annoyed.

"Darkblaze, chill out. There is this cave here. It looks like nothing's living in it." Flamewing pointed with her tail. The cave was small, but it could fit all of the party because Tinypaw and Lily. "I'll stand guard tonight." Flamewing meowed to Thornfrost and the others.

"Fine by me," Tinypaw murmured. "I'm tired."

"Me too," Thornfrost agreed. Lily sighed then laid on Brightstorm lap. "I don't think Lily can go on any farther," Brightstorm whispered. "She's so cold, frozen even." Darkblaze shivered, trying to warm his paws then meowed gruffly, "Get her into the cave. It might be a little warmer."

"It will protect us from this wind too," Flamewing added. Brightstorm picked Lily's body up gently and disappeared into the cave.

Darkblaze sniffed checking for any animals, just in case. He smelt nothing, only the strong scent of cats. Then, the LakeClan cat slowly padded in and sat next to the shivering Lily. The cold floor was smooth and cool. Lily glanced at him and mewed, "A-a-are you okay?"

"Me?" He meowed, surprised. "You should look at yourself!" Lily licked her pelt, trying to flatten it. "I'm f-f-fine," She shivered. Darkblaze snorted. "No, you're not!"

Lily let out a light purr and she laid down her head on her paws. Slowly, she closed her eyes and tucked her fluffy tail over herself. "I never knew I would make it this far," Lily murmured. "I thought I would be killed." Darkblaze let out a small forced purr as slowly Lily fell into sleep. The tom stood and padded a little farther into the cave.

The small icicle-like stones were everywhere. There was a little pool of water in the back of the cave. Darkblaze decided to have a drink, so he bent down and sniffed the pool then lapped up a little of the water. Darkblaze felt slightly drowsy so he put his head on his paws and waited for sleep to come.

Flamewing sat on the ground waiting for something to happen. A small tabby, covered with beautiful stars, appeared in front of her sitting on a thin branch of a tree. The branch swayed slightly as he jumped off of it. "Wetstar?" Flamewing whispered. "What is it?"

The tabby padded up to the ginger she-cat, his eyes looking grave. "Flamewing," he sighed. "I do not have much time. I must tell you something. Come." The brown cat quickly padded away into the trees.

Flamewing glanced back at the cave then followed him towards a cliff. It had a tall rock that was bigger than Highrock hanging just over the edge. As the cat's eyes adjusted to the dim light, the ground suddenly began to slope upward. Flamewing slipped on a damp leaf and scrambled at the slick stone. "Here," The tom whispered. He gracefully leaped on top of the rock and held up his chin. "There is not much time for you to get back to the forest." The tabby paused as Flamewing meowed crossly, "Where is Wetstar? Why can't he tell me?" She felt a wail rise in her throat as her mind spun with thoughts. _What had happened? Where is Wetstar? Who is this cat that replaced him?_

The small tom sighed and meowed carefully, "I see you are nervous. Wetstar is not in harm's way. My name is Addertooth." Addertooth looked up at Silverpelt. "I know, I'm going as fast as I can." He whispered. _Was he talking to his Clanmates or to himself? _Flamewing wondered. Addertooth looked back at her. "Wetstar just spoke to me," he mewed. Flamewing's heart lept. _What did Wetstar have to tell me?_ "He has told me that you must hurry to return to the forest."

"How much longer do we have?" Flamewing meowed, interrupting Addertooth. Her heart started to pound against my chest. The moon began to rise above the clouds as Addertooth mewed quietly, "You have exactly one moon to get to the sun-drown-place." The world began to shiver as a thin rain began to fall. Adderfang started to fade until Flamewing could see the smooth stones through his starry pelt.

Waternose slowly walked away from her camp. The river was disappearing but Waternose couldn't get Treefoot off her mind. It was muddled with his scared image and his purrs. Waternose shook her head; it had been almost three moons since she had saw the tom-cat but he still consumed her mind. Waternose groaned, her whole body hurt so much.

Her stomach had grown hugely swollen but no one but her had noticed. She had to get away; she knew that she would bear her kits any moment now. She slunk into a dead tree, it smelled of fungi and dirty moss but Waternose knew it would hide her scent.

Waternose slid down, with her paws beneath her. Her stomach rippled and she groaned, annoyed. _Why can't they come sooner?_ She thought.

There was a small and thick branch laying next to her, if she needed it. She leaned over and grabbed it, because she has seen other queens bare must of been painful but worth it.

_They are coming!_ After a few heartbeats, the first kit slipped out. Waternose popped the sack and started to lick her tiny kit. She swept it up in her tail as another shudder went through her body. The second kit slipped out, followed by a third. She put them next to the other one and she put her tail protectively around them. Then a fourth kit slid out... and a fifth and sixth. _How many kits am I going to have? _

After a few minutes, Waternose had two more kits. _Is this normal? _Waternose started to panic. Eight _kits? _Never has Waternose seen a queen bare eight kits at once. Finally, after the last wave of pain, Waternose bore one last kit. She was bleeding slightly, but Waternose was just glad everything was over. Five she-cats and four toms. She decided to name them before they suckled. Most of them were gray, but two of the kits, a tom and she-cat, looked like Treefoot. She named the tom Treekit and the she-cat Echokit. She named the others Mosskit, Silverkit, Graykit, Flowerkit, Stormkit, Stonekit, Leafkit. She pulled them all to her stomach, and she lurched suddenly when she heard a familiar voice.

"Waternose?"

OMG! Who is this mysterious cat who found Waternose? Will Lily survive? Will Flamewing and the others reach the SunDrown Place in time? Tune in next month to see what happens!


	17. Chapter 16

Chapter 16:

Forestflame stood in the hole of the tree. Waternose stared at him, flustered and unprepared about what she was going to say. "Waternose," Forestflame breathed. "Are these your kits?" Waternose sighed when she realized that she couldn't really lie about _this_.

"Yes, please Forestflame, it's not what you think. These-" Waternose paused, hating what she was about to do. "These are _our _kits."

"And you had _nine_?"

"Yep," Forestflame stood still, staring at her. Waternose had known that Foresflame had loved her for a long time and wanted to be her mate.

"Wow…" Forestflame replied. "Then why did you have them out here and not in camp?"

"I didn't want a attention."

"Oh."

Silence. Even the kits seemed to stopped sucking. Waternose tensed, pleading to StarClan. "Okay," she sighed. "Let's go back to camp. But, you must promise me that five of these kits were abandoned by the TwoLeg border, or this can never work."

"I promise you, Waternose." Forestflame padded slowly over and nuzzled Waternose's cheek. Halfheartedly, Waternose nuzzled him back. _Oh StarClan, why must it happen this way?_

Thornfrost drowsily woke up. He felt something prodding his side so he turned and saw Flamewing. Her eyes looked worried.

Adjusting to the sunlight streaming through the cave, Thornfrost sat up and mumbled, "What is it Flamewing?"

"I had a dream..."

"So?" Thornfrost mewed, annoyance piercing his tone.

"...from _StarClan_." Flamewing meowed staring at him, mildly angry.

"Oh."


End file.
